During one of my strolls down the Taipei alleys in 2003, I came across this tiny shop selling punk rock memorabilia, shirts, and CDs... sure the clothes and arm bands bordered on Hot Topic but I was excited nevertheless to have come across a piece of the Taiwanese underground scene.
After schooling me on the likes of Op Ivy and Minor Threat, the store clerk recommended me Spunka, a local band specializing in...well punk and ska. I'm not sure if they are still around (Bobby?) though I suspect they have disbanded as there is no trace of the group online. A lot of this sounds like Op Ivy and Rancid, the lead singer(s?) gets the grunts and growls down and Taiwanese mixed with a dose of fobby english makes for gibberish lyrics (but then again who really gives a fuck about the lyrics with punk rock). Much of the music sounds like college kids fuckin around and aping their favorite groups. The typical 3 chord progressions are there, the loud thrashing, and even some trumpet action makes for some good ol angst ridden "mudder fugger punker" rock:
(I've lost the CD case so I don't have the song titles...bear with me as I make them up)
1. Spunka "Da Ge Ho"
2. Spunka "Every Day Work"
3. Spunka "Pappy Mao"
update: dudes...I am GEEKED about this Bad Brains DVD. Oh and it wasn't until I ejected the CD that I realized the band name is "Spunka" not "Punk Ska"....must be one of them "Punk In Drulic" moments....
3 comments:
Hey man. I know the store you're talking about (I think), but I've never heard of that band... Last year, I caught a short performance by a band called D.G.S. (大吉祥). Liked their attitude. The music is aaaa-ight. Not exactly the next Op Ivy, but entertaining nonetheless. Their website is: http://dagishion.fly.to/ ...
dude...once i got the name right i found this online:
http://www.islandofsound.com/spunka.htm
pretty good look into underground punk scene in taiwan.
Anarchy in Taiwan is a blog that does a lot of writing on the local music scene, as well as punk etc elsewhere.
http://gotmahmojo.livejournal.com/
Post a Comment