MUSIC Ska's new wave could be an off-beat away

Summer of Ska tour will hit Cleveland and Pittsburgh this week.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Got ska?
Even though it's been a decade since the third wave of ska brought us the likes of No Doubt, Sublime, Reel Big Fish and dozens more, the offshoot reggae genre is alive and well in 2006.
In fact, if you talk to singer Frank Casillas of the Voodoo Glow Skulls, which is taking part in the current Summer of Ska tour featuring Catch 22, Bid D and the Kids Table, Suburban Legends and Westbound Train (Saturday at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland and Monday at Mr. Small's Theatre in Pittsburgh), he'll tell you a fourth wave of ska appears imminent.
"Everything in music seems to be coming back around full circle," said Casillas, calling from his home in Bullhead City, Ariz. "It seems like once again there is momentum for a lot of these bands."
The Voodoo Glow Skulls came together in the late '80s with its self-dubbed "California street music" sound, which combines ska, punk and hardcore into a fiery brew of honest political commentary delivered bilingually (Spanish and English).
It's a sense of gravitas that gives the Voodoo Glow Skulls a credible foundation for longevity while other acts have fallen into obscurity.
"I think as far as the reason why we've been doing this for so long is just we've always been considered -- and it's not a self-given title -- the pioneers of West Coast ska punk and that's a title that we're pretty proud of," Casillas said. "We don't really have any gimmicks or anything. I think a lot of our fans can relate to what we do."
Definitive albums such as 1993's "Who is? This is?" and 1995's "Firme" captured the band's archetypal sound, thus creating a diehard following that remains strong today. Still, Casillas believes the seven-piece band has been unfairly pigeonholed by some music fans who are turned off by the brass.
Not gone yet
"As far as the clich & eacute;s go, a lot of people think that just because we have a horn section that's not good music any more," Casillas said. "A lot of people jump the gun and kind of throw in the towel and won't even give it a chance. I just think that's something that gets overlooked a lot in ska/punk. In music, having a horn section, it kind of opens yourself up to be a little more creative and diverse."
While a new album is on the horizon for next winter, Casillas said the upcoming Voodoo Glow Skulls show is a career retrospective into the heart of this underrated genre.
"Ska/punk is really energetic," Casillas said. "You can dance to it. You can slam-dance to it. You can stage-dive to it. I think it's going to be a breath of fresh air as opposed to a lot of the emo/alternative indie pop stuff that's out there right now."