Skavoovie

@ Slim's

Skavoovie and the Epitones at Slim's July 29, 1999

The Skank on Skavoovie Skavoovie and Slim's were just the ticket. I'm not a particular ska freak but you could see why these kids from Boston do it for so many: they're fresh, they're wacky, and frontman Ans Purins is a sweaty ska God. He's unpredictable and charismatic with just the right amount of goof factor.

I'm a Brit myself, so you could say I've always been exposed to the two-tone thing. But what Skavoovie have got that the likes of 'The Specials' and 'Madness' haven't is that old American glitter: they're original, witty and as powerful- and you need to be to make it in a tough industry. And they're definitely ambitious: since forming in 1998 they've had their first national tour before even out of High School and their first album, 'Fat Footin,'' released on Moon Ska Records.

So who are they? They're a ten-piece ska band: 10 High School mates who've hit the bigtime. They play funky, jazzy lounge-meets-ska up-tempo and mellow grooves. But most of all you can tell they're about exploring ska roots. This is intelligent music from all angles. Plus their average age is twenty-two, but they've won more awards than there's space to list. They explain that each of them adds something special to the concept of Skavoovie: be it lyrics, compositions or improvisations. And with instruments ranging from congas to a euphonium (blimey!), that's plenty of scope for making up music!

The guys in action are quite a funny bunch: some of them seemed a bit awkward, what with all these people their own age going crazy for them. But when they got going into that old line-dancing ska band thing, everything was hunky-dory and the gig really seemed to kick off. Slim's crowd was mucho appreciative and, as the night wore on, more black suits started jogging and jigging up front.

The gig was as much a promo for the new album, 'The Growler' (Shanachie, www.shanachierecords.com), the follow-up to 1997's 'Ripe', as anything else, but their playlist was a mixture of old up-tempo stuff and new materials. My favourite track had to be 'Boyo': great lyrics (good lines for yelling out at soccer matches) packed out with gangly, addictive riffs and infective crescendos. 'The Coffee Connection' is another great one: a deceptively happy ode to the bottomless cup, replete with tales of love in coffeehouses. But before it gets too much like 'Friends', the lyrics bite back right at ya and it's fantastic. More genius with 'Texas Size', a ska-tastic fast toe-tapping, Sinatra-on-speed ditty written in praise of 'one of those girls' who just does it for ya and, 'Tiny Machines', which brings up images of Beastie-Boy jump-suits with its tales of twenty-first century life with a traditional, home spun ska atmosphere. Ought to be a theme tune to some seventies TV series for sure.

So I left the club whistling the numbers above and will listen to Skavoovie everytime I get home-sick for some solid two-tone roots. Which is often.

Jessica Yorke.

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