HAVE you been to Riverside? Not a pretty picture, is it? You could understand a man thinking, “If only me and my brothers could form a ska band, we’d get out of here.” Reminds me of one Tuesday afternoon I was at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. The band’s doing its soundcheck, and I’m thinking, “God dawg, that’s a terrific English Beat cover band, they sound exactly like the real thing!” Turns out they were Voodoo Glow Skulls, and happily ska did get them out of Riverside. Southern California Street Music, the newest album, has these suave pochos rocking out. Two years after publicly declaring ska was dead, they were dancing on its grave. The Voodoo Glow Skulls could be included in the Venn diagram that is second-generation SoCal punk rock. Their working day includes saluting fellow old timers The Descendants with a terrific cover of “I’m Not a Loser” and performing a spot of political protest (“Morning Air Raid Sirens”). If their music is an indicator, they spend the rest of their time with common man pursuits: drinking whiskey and rum, getting tattooed, hitting the thrifts, driving around and looking at stuff.
VOODOO GLOW SKULLS play Saturday, March 13, at 9pm at the Blank Club, 44 S. Almaden Ave, San Jose. Tickets are $10; 408.29.BLANK.
