With the passing of yet another merging of the local and foreign rock music scene in Seoul last week at Itaewon's Ole Stompers Rock Spot, many foreign audience members were astounded by the performance of Korean band SkaSucks.

As the name suggests, the band play a blend of Ska and punk music.

The music genre Ska originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combines elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the offbeat.

Punk, on the other hand developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock.

They created fast, hard-edged music, typically with short songs, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics.

Punk embraces a DIY (do it yourself) ethic, with many bands self-producing their recordings and distributing them through informal channels.

Dressed in typical traditional Ska attire of what is now become a standard dress code of black sixties style tight suits, white shirts and skinny black ties, SkaSucks took to the stage with a burst of energy that did full justice to their brass, keyboard, guitar and rhythm laden vocalists pure power.

The sound more reminiscent of Motorhead meeting Madness and The Specials with an emphasis on Clash style vocals, the band members made use of not only the stage provided for them but also the tables and chairs nearby, not to mention clambering over members of the crowd.

With a limited command of spoken English, the various musicians managed to convey a sense of fun and enthusiasm for their art throughout the 50-minute set.

After staying for two encores, the band finally left the stage to continue to promote their new CD ``New Generation Of Ska''

For more information, contact www.cafe.daum.net/skasucks or www.myspace.com/vvskasucksvv