History Main / SkaPunk

* [[Music/TheAquabats The Aquabats!]]

* Music/{{ReelBigFish}}

* IncrediblyLamePun: The ska pun started with one of the early '60s bands, the Skatalites, but it got really ridiculous in the '90s, when it seemed like every other band name or album title was one. A couple of the worst: Flux Skapacitor, Mephiskapheles

* NeoClassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: It's not uncommon for bands to have other musical influences besides the obvious {{Ska}} and PunkRock ones- for example, HeavyMetal in the case of Music/TheMightyMightyBosstones and Music/ReelBigFish, or {{Reggae}} and {{HipHop}} in the case of Sublime. Music/{{Rancid}} experimented with PopPunk, HardcorePunk, Rockabilly, Reggae, Latin Music and Blues at various times, as well...

In 1995, ska punk was finally brought to mainstream attention with the release of Music/NoDoubt's multi-platinum ''Tragic Kingdom'' album, which created a big demand for similar-sounding groups. 1996 and 1997 would be the peak years for the Third Wave revival. Music/ReelBigFish, Sublime and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones all had hit singles on the Modern Rock charts, while groups like Less Than Jake and Mustard Plug skanked it up in Florida and the mid-west respectively and music by Save Ferris or the Toasters featured in films or TV. And while the mainstream focused on the aforementioned bands, the underground scene of the late 90's and early 2000’s saw a minor subgenre of ska punk form, dubbed "Crack Rock Steady". The subgenre was pioneered by bands like ChokingVictim (the TropeNamer), Morning Glory, No Ca$h, and Music/LeftoverCrack, which fused ska, crust punk and DeathMetal into one package. For a while, ska punk was pretty popular.

* OneOfUs: Curiously enough.
** Especially when one takes into account the reputation of the genre as JerkJock fodder.

* [[Music/ThreeEleven (also incorporating funk rock and reggae into their sound)

* [[Music/BuckONine Buck-O-Nine]]
* Music/{{Catch 22}}

* [[Music/IllScarlet illScarlet]]

* [[Music/LetsGoBowling Let's Go Bowling]]

* Music/{{TheMightyMightyBosstones}}

* [[Music/SkakinPickle Skankin' Pickle]]

* [[Music/{{ThreeEleven}} 311]] (also incorporating funk rock and reggae into their sound)

However, ska's fifteen minutes of fame in America were soon up. Unlike {{Britpop}}, which was clearly finished off by the third {{Oasis}} album, it's hard to place a definite GenreKiller for ska punk. A lot of bands split up, while others (such as No Doubt, Less Than Jake and the Aquabats) changed their sound a bit. Even so, there were plenty of bands that stuck to their ska guns, such as Reel Big Fish or the Bosstones, who continue to play to audiences who remain as rabid as ever, and every so often bands - such as Chase Long Beach and Streetlight Manifesto - come along who look like they may revive ska for a fourth wave.

In 1995, ska punk was finally brought to mainstream attention with the release of Music/NoDoubt's multi-platinum ''Tragic Kingdom'' album, which created a big demand for similar-sounding groups. 1996 and 1997 would be the peak years for the Third Wave revival. ReelBigFish, Sublime and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones all had hit singles on the Modern Rock charts, while groups like Less Than Jake and Mustard Plug skanked it up in Florida and the mid-west respectively and music by Save Ferris or the Toasters featured in films or TV. And while the mainstream focused on the aforementioned bands, the underground scene of the late 90's and early 2000’s saw a minor subgenre of ska punk form, dubbed "Crack Rock Steady". The subgenre was pioneered by bands like ChokingVictim (the TropeNamer), Morning Glory, No Ca$h, and Music/LeftoverCrack, which fused ska, crust punk and DeathMetal into one package. For a while, ska punk was pretty popular.

In 1995, ska punk was finally brought to mainstream attention with the release of NoDoubt's multi-platinum ''Tragic Kingdom'' album, which created a big demand for similar-sounding groups. 1996 and 1997 would be the peak years for the Third Wave revival. ReelBigFish, Sublime and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones all had hit singles on the Modern Rock charts, while groups like Less Than Jake and Mustard Plug skanked it up in Florida and the mid-west respectively and music by Save Ferris or the Toasters featured in films or TV. And while the mainstream focused on the aforementioned bands, the underground scene of the late 90's and early 2000’s saw a minor subgenre of ska punk form, dubbed "Crack Rock Steady". The subgenre was pioneered by bands like ChokingVictim (the TropeNamer), Morning Glory, No Ca$h, and Music/LeftoverCrack, which fused ska, crust punk and DeathMetal into one package. For a while, ska punk was pretty popular.

* Music/TheDingees (also played punk and reggae, in a GenreRoulette fashion rather than mixing them)

* Music/{{Rancid}} (also count as HardcorePunk)

* Music/SmashMouth (well, sometimes anyways, mainly their first album, Music/FushYuMang)

* [[Music/{{ThreeEleven}} 311]] (though they also count as FunkMetal, RapRock and AlternativeMetal)

* [[Music/TheAquabats The Aquabats!]] (later changed to... well, [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly who knows what]])

* Music/{{Fishbone}} (also counts as FunkMetal and NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly)

* Music/{{Goldfinger}} (on their first two albums only, they then became PopPunk)

* Music/{{Hepcat}} (also Music/Reggae)
* Music/LessThanJake (though they also count as PopPunk)
* Music/LeftoverCrack (also counts as HardcorePunk)

* Music/NoDoubt (up until [[NewSoundAlbum Rocksteady]], at least)

* Music/OperationIvy (pretty much the TropeMakers, or at least TropeCodifiers, of the whole genre)
* Music/{{Pepper}} (they're more of a PunkRock / Music/Reggae hybrid really, but they still count)
* Music/ThePlanetSmashers (though they come close to traditional Ska, with less PunkRock influence)

* Music/SlightlyStoopid (also Music/Reggae and borderline FunkMetal)

* Music/{{Sublime}} (also Music/{{Reggae}} and AlternativeHipHop)

* Music/TheToasters (though closer to 2Tone in sound)

* Music/TheUpsetters (also Music/Reggae)

* Music/{{Sublime}} (also Music/Reggae and AlternativeHipHop)

** The genre has been abandoned to a greater-or-lesser extent by this demographic in recent years though- they tend to prefer Top 40 Pop and RnB, {{GangstaRap}} / GlamRap and Brostep (a subgenre of Music/{{Dubstep}}) these days. Back in the 90s/early 2000s, on the other hand...

* Music/SmashMouth (well, sometimes, anyways)

* OneHitWonder: ReelBigFish and TheMightyMightyBosstones have only really had one charting hit each: "Sell Out" and "The Impression That I Get," respectively. However, both bands have major cult followings.

That's the musical style in a nutshell. To elaborate on the history of the genre, we'd have to go back to New York City in the early 1980s, where the first American ska scene began to develop. Much of the credit for the early development of American ska can be attributed to Robert "Bucket" Hingley, a British expatriate who enjoyed 2 Tone ska, founded his own band (The Toasters) and created the Moon Ska Records label, which recorded almost every noteworthy East Coast group at some point. Around the same time, a group of school friends from Massachusetts started TheMightyMightyBosstones, whose fusion of ska and HardcorePunk was influential in the development of the ska-core style.

* NeoClassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: It's not uncommon for bands to have other musical influences besides the obvious {{Ska}} and PunkRock ones- for example, HeavyMetal in the case of TheMightyMightyBosstones and ReelBigFish, or {{Reggae}} and {{HipHop}} in the case of Sublime. Music/{{Rancid}} experimented with PopPunk, HardcorePunk, Rockabilly, Reggae, Latin Music and Blues at various times, as well...

In 1995, ska punk was finally brought to mainstream attention with the release of NoDoubt's multi-platinum ''Tragic Kingdom'' album, which created a big demand for similar-sounding groups. 1996 and 1997 would be the peak years for the Third Wave revival. ReelBigFish, Sublime and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones all had hit singles on the Modern Rock charts, while groups like Less Than Jake and Mustard Plug skanked it up in Florida and the mid-west respectively and music by Save Ferris or the Toasters featured in films or TV. And while the mainstream focused on the aforementioned bands, the underground scene of the late 90's and early 2000’s saw a minor subgenre of ska punk form, dubbed "Crack Rock Steady". The subgenre was pioneered by bands like Choking Victim (the TropeNamer), Morning Glory, No Ca$h, and Music/LeftoverCrack, which fused ska, crust punk and DeathMetal into one package. For a while, ska punk was pretty popular.

+ Ska, PunkRock, PopPunk, HardcorePunk

* TropeCodifier: The Toasters for American ska music in general, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones for ska-core and Choking Victim for Crack Rock Steady.

** Crack Rock Steady takes this up to eleven by writing songs about drug use, anarchism (more typically in the traditional sense, not the AnarchyIsChaos way - although there may be some overlap), and police brutality, among other "darker" subjects. The [[song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56flbcUqAB8]] that named the subgenre is about a 3 or so on the MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness, but the lyrics blatantly describe the singer's hatred for police officers, to put it lightly.

In 1995, ska punk was finally brought to mainstream attention with the release of NoDoubt's multi-platinum ''Tragic Kingdom'' album, which created a big demand for similar-sounding groups. 1996 and 1997 would be the peak years for the Third Wave revival. ReelBigFish, Sublime and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones all had hit singles on the Modern Rock charts, while groups like Less Than Jake and Mustard Plug skanked it up in Florida and the mid-west respectively and music by Save Ferris or the Toasters featured in films or TV. For a while, ska punk was pretty popular.

In the early 2000’s another wave of ska punk came about called Crack Rock Steady, fusing Ska, Crust Punk and DeathMetal.

* Music/LeftoverCrack

* LyricalDissonance: A complete set of examples would probably fill a page on their own. This trope was practically a trademark of the genre. In short: most Ska Punk songs have bouncy, upbeat music and superficially sound extremely happy, but if you actually pay attention to the lyrics they are some of the most cynical, sarcastic, snide and/or self-deprecating songs ever written.
* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Anywhere from a 4 to a 7, depending on how much HardcorePunk / HeavyMetal vs. Music/{{Ska}} / {{Reggae}} influence a given band has. Many bands also go up and down the scale depending on the song, or even within a song.

By the late 1980s, the most successful American ska scene was developing in California, where short-lived but hugely influential groups like Operation Ivy combined hardcore and ska influences to create their own brand of ska-core. A west coast alternative to Moon Ska appeared in the form of the Asian Man Records label, formed by Skankin' Pickle saxophonist Mike Park. After the huge success of {{Grunge}} and PunkRock in the early to mid-nineties, ska was well placed to enter the mainstream. Early successes to come out of the California scene included reggae fusion masters {{Sublime}}, Op Ivy offshoots {{Rancid}}, whose album ''... And Out Come the Wolves'' was the first American ska record to be certified Gold and some punk bands, like Music/{{NOFX}} and TheOffspring, who also recorded some ska-influenced songs.

* NeoClassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: It's not uncommon for bands to have other musical influences besides the obvious Ska and Punk- for example, HeavyMetal in the case of the MightyMightyBosstones and ReelBigFish, or {{Reggae}} and {{HipHop}} in the case of Sublime. Music/{{Rancid}} experimented with PopPunk, HardcorePunk, Rockabilly, Reggae, Latin Music and Blues at various times, as well...

* OneHitWonder: Reel Big Fish and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones have only really had one charting hit each: "Sell Out" and "The Impression That I Get," respectively. However, both bands have major cult followings.