Battle-Ska Galactica – Whammy Bar, 28 July 2023: Review

Battle-Ska Galactica and support act AceTones deliver an unfiltered blast of Two-Tone Ska and Rock Steady with a generous helping of Punk energy to banish the bitter cold of a mid-winter polar blast.

Dress back jump back, this is a Bluebeat attack!

Wellington band Battle-Ska Galactica would probably feel this was just a barmy night. They have been an ensemble since 2009, so they’re knocking on fifteen years. I am surprised, being a huge fan of Ska and Bluebeat myself, that this is the first time I have seen them.

I do remember Dinah Lee and Do the Blue Beat on the radio in the mid-Sixties. Incidentally, there is a concert from her later this year, with Tami Neilson.

They start with Battleska Skank. We like to dance/ We like to party. Immediately they establish that classic accent on the off-beat sound. Up front are the horns. Trumpet, trombone and saxophone. They sound superb, and again the sound man at Whammy gets it spot on.

All songs are originals, from where they pull in various influences like a musical vortex. This one has elements of good time Beatles, like All Together Now.

Are Ya Winning? A dynamo of dance energy. You’ll be alright/ Saturday night!

The first flash of Surf music, the instrumental style, with Doctor, Doctor. There is a riff sounding like the Hawaii Five-O theme popping up there.

Quick Buck is pure Pop Ska. They begin with who’s that calling your name? Then comes a perfectly timed Rock guitar break in the middle.

Message From the Meters is full of wah-wah Funk guitar and a nice soul vocal with some stylish falsetto. They know how to cook, and the crowd tonight are keen to shake it down.

Ska can be identified by the signature accents on the beat. It originated from the music of New Orleans in the Fifties that travelled across the airwaves, across the Gulf of Mexico, to Jamaica and the West Indies.

There were the originators of Rock’n’roll like Fats Domino and Little Richard. There were also genius oddballs like Professor Longhair and his syncopated left hand on the piano. Which led to Huey Piano Smith and the origins of Bluebeat.

Ska was a sponge soaking up other genres. Doo-wop, Motown, Gospel and R’n’B. Just as important was discipline and precision. This was not a rough and ready, everything goes type of thrash. Discipline came from Jazz musicians, similar the Motown Funk Brothers house band which played on well over a thousand singles.

Which takes us to the Punk explosion and the rebirth of Ska, with the Two-Tone movement. Prior to that, Reggae had surfaced into the mainstream primarily with Bob Marley, until the Clash broke the ground with Junior Murvin’s Police and Thieves. (He was a member of the Wailers by then).

Following that with songs like Janie Jones and Clash City Rockers, we saw the Specials, Madness and the Beat establish the Ska revival.

The AceTones

AceTones are an eight-piece ensemble from Auckland, also keeping the faith with the Two-Tone movement. Their horn section comprises three saxophones.

They begin with the classic Booker T and the MG’s Time is Tight. Familiar and exhilarating. This establishes the classic skirling Hammond organ signature Sixties sound.

A couple of original tunes, Don’t Be Shy and Hip Shaker. Drums pop and lift the Ska drive. Nice Rocksteady skanking rhythms.

A great work out on Summertime, the version done by Sound Dimension, who were the house band for Clement Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One.

They don’t forget the legendary Skatalites and excel on a great version of Confucius. Jazz licks abound, jumping rhythms and it sounds like movie music at times.

Work Song has some surf guitar and the Hawaii Five-0 riff crops up for the first time in the evening.

Battle-Ska Galactica

The best Punk styled music of the night is heard on Rude Boy Riot. Energised classic Ska rhythms merge into Dub, then that accent on the off beat as they borrow a little from the opening salvoes of the Clash version of Police and Thieves.

New song Anxiety carries on the Punk aggression.

Worldwide Pain has vocals which merge toasting into rap.

Everybody’s Got an Opinion. They nick a little of the rhythm riffs of Devo’s Secret Agent Man, to great effect.

Of course, they are called back for one more, and so we are graced with their take on the Specials Message to You Rudy. With a little toasting added on for good measure.

Battle-Ska Galactica and AceTones are a splendid double bill to showcase the great songs Ska.

Rev Orange Peel

Photos by Leonie Moreland 

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