REVIEWS
& COMMENTS ABOUT THE SKALINSKIS
Three Minute Warning Mysapce posting 4 August 2007
Top set at the Kippertronix, really enjoyed it. Take it easy guys
JB & Jero SKAPATROL Skazine - radio station, Dublin, Eire 4 August 2007
Top stuff in Wales last saturday nite guys [Kippertronix festival]
Wayne AKA Fat Bob myspace posting 30 July 2007
Never seen you before but at Kippertronix you added at least one more fan. That was a blinding set you lot played
Kate & Pete myspace posting 30 July 2007
Just like to say the gig at SLAF HQ [Kippertronix festival] was ace
Stanly Hubris myspace posting 21 May 2007
I saw you at Northwood Park and you guys were great
Review of 26 Nov 06 SkaBar gig by OMD posted on Fungalpunk website 16 May 2007
Next
it was the established Skalinskis who rattled off a tight, well
rehearsed set with apparant ease and professionalism. Impeccably
melodic and with a retro touch that aided in the general outpouring,
this was joy. This genre is definitely not my bag but tonight was
turning into an unexpected pleasure. This lot are obviously one of the
top Ska bands around at the moment and I'm sure will be doing well on
their rounds
The Rude Fellows (Italy) myspace posting 29 March 2007
Great Music, a Madness style vocals and great brass
BBC Radio Stoke Subculture website following live radio session March 2007
The
SKALINSKIS blew everyone away with a fantastic live session. They
played the brilliant King Tut Strut and followed it with Green Eyes.
The Aggrolites (California, USA) posting to SKALINSKIS myspace
The Skalinskis have the Boss Sound!!! Boss Sound to wreck the town
Smoke Like A Fish posting to SKALINSKIS myspace 30.10.06
You were F**king awesome at the PDF prefest party thing
Forum
exchange on www.mancpunkscene.co.uk June 2006
Anon: [talking
about best of Manchester Ska Bar CD]..Yeah good innit. Especially the opening
track [ Mighty River- Skalinsksis]
SkaBarPerson:
I really like that song too but a few people have told me they dont. I
think its a grower, which was one reason I stuck it on first
Anon: Totally
leapt out at me straight away. I guess we just have better taste than most
people. It is very New York style whereas the rest are quite Anglo
ska's
the limit, Paul Williams, SKADANCECRAZE.com
june 2005
Mention Ska from
Stoke on Trent and undoubtedly the majority of people would point you the
way of long standing Ska lunatics The Rough Kutz but that’s not the only
secret hidden in the Potteries. Check out the band The Skalinskis if you
get the chance .They have a 13 track album out “Kissing The Monkey” and
describe their unique sound as “..Heroic beat music of the eastern European
peoples played by decadent western lackeys in a skanking ska stylee!!...”
Seriously, it’s a spikey mix of eastern European beats clashing with reverberant
2Tone overtones, something different! At the moment they are playing intermittently,
but keep your eyes on the game if you are around the midlands and they
are often playing in and around Stoke. Nik Skalinski was (and probably
still is) the drummer for The Rough Kutz also and bounces between both
acts.
Do
The Dog Fanzine, issue 32 Spring 2004
The Skalinskis have
been in the studio recording a new album. The Stoke based crew recently
sent me a sneak preview in the shape of 3 cool tunes. The Skalinskis play
a unique and spikey brand of 2 tone peppered with klezmer & Russian
folk and these three new cuts all point to a first rate album in the making.
The
2-Tone Moose (Denmark), aka Michael H. by email 07.05.03
Just want to tell
you and the rest of the band how much I enjoy [the CD] "For a few roubles
more" - not only the music, the production is splendid ! The sound is top
quality !!! When I listen to the album on my old JBL's L-96 - the band
is right there with me !
The
2-Tone Moose (Denmark), aka Michael H. by email 17.03.03
I just heard the
demo snippets, and they are great ! .....a far more interesting album than
99% of all the commercial albums supported by greedy labels.... I will
suggest you to Loppen in Denmark - 2-3 times a month a SKA-band is playing
on stage, and I really hope that they can fix a gig with you sometime.
Your east european touch gives the mucic a certain rough feeling - I can
nearly smell the Russian steppes when I hear your 2-Tone SKA !
Skawars
International (Sweden) review of 3-track CD single (03.03.03)
The Skalinskis from
UK have been described as a mix between ska, klezmer, and Russian folk
music – something that certainly sounds eclectic on paper. If this band
plays anything, it’s rocking 2-tone ska. OK, the Eastern European influence
is there in the devilish horns, especially in “It Doesn’t Really Matter”,
and it’s quite amusing. The rapping vocals [sic] are very reminiscent of
Stevie B from Maroon Town, and the crunchy, distorted guitar sound reminds
me of The Splitters or Too Many Crooks. This band may very well have
a bright future in front of them.
Sabina
Karner (Radio Student Ljubljana, Slovenija), by email 2003:
It's true that Skalinskis
were mentioned and played on Radio Student. In fact I was talking about
the band and your music in my show which is called Skabinet (show N#21)
- as the name tells this is show about ska music (mainly). But I think
I did mention you twice - once before I played whole CD. I got the CD from
my friend and as I remember she got it from one guy in Koper. I don't
remember what I was exactly telling about you - but it couldn't be
bad, because I dont present bands I don't like:)
BBC
Stoke Web Site News Item by Tony Sillitoe 2003
When you think of
superstars, you think of arrogant, self-conceited brats... so it's good
to remember that not all of them are like that. In fact, here's some evidence
- an extraordinary act of generosity by Robbie [Williams] a couple of years
ago, as he tried to help out a North Staffordshire school for kids with
learning disabilities.
Robbie's then record
Label, Chrysalis, gave permission in the early part of 2001 for 'Rock DJ'
to appear on a charity compilation album of local rockers, put together
by Coppice School special needs students from Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Robbie is taking just a mere, cut-price 17p royalties per sale.
The pupils produced
the disc, entitled 'Musical Illusions', as part of a project aimed at teaching
them how to run a small business, and were thrilled to get the go-ahead
to celebrate the idolised local boy that's already made good, as well as
to showcase some lesser known bands from the area.
While Robbie contributed
track "Rock DJ", there's ten other tracks from well-known local bands...
including Robbie, Grace, Immaculate, The Skalinskis, Perfect Citizen,
Clueless, Marshal, Her Majesty's Secret Goblin, Phil Littler, Blowback,
and Jeff Kent.
With it's varied
and inclusive pop/rock/indie/ska vibe, it was a brilliant compilation for
anyone interested local music at that time, especially as it was a limited
edition CD, with only two hundred copies being produced.
Justwannarock.com
interview with King Prawn 02.01.03:
Q: Are there any
bands that you haven't played with yet, who you'd like to?
A: Asian Dub Foundation,
Skalinskis, Manu Chao
Skawars
International (Sweden) web site news item 28/12/02:
Klezmer ska band:
A wicked band under
the name of "The Skalinskis" are a new surprise to the staff of Skawars
International. Their sound is described as upbeat two-tone ska flavoured
with East European klezmer music, kind of what The Specials would have
sounded like if they were from Russia. The band has gigged extensively
in the UK since 1999, sharing the stage with the likes of Chumbawamba,
Mark Foggo and the Rough Kutz.
BBC
Radio Stoke web site November 2002:
Gertrude. Sound odd.
Are odd - and now Not.
Gertrude Definition:
A jagged, power-cello hard edged post punk mutant orchestra, offset by
lyrical clarinet madness.
You didn't ask -
but now you know. They were supporting Chumbawamba at Hanley's Sugarmill
on November 18th, but now they've been replaced by the fabulous Skalinskis.
The Skalinskis, who
play a sort of mixture of Jamaican ska and Russian Pogues-like frenzy,
are one of our favourites. Expect to dance!
Mark
Foggo (Mark Foggo's Skasters, Holland) 2002 by email:
Enjoyed your band
very much on our tour in England, a nice change from the standard ska stuff
BBC
STOKE web site CD review (August 2002) by Sam Stickland
(GCSE
Geography (failed))
Imagine
yourself in a Greek [what?] restaurant, just enjoying the ambience, when
all of a sudden the waiters start dancing!
An
Eastern European Ska band from Stoke, who have followed in the footsteps
of Madness, they’re energetic and playful, and their irreverent lyrics
are worth listening to, if you can get the urge to do some Greek dancing
out of your head long enough to concentrate on them!
BBC
Radio Stoke web site, gig review 2002:
A five
piece electric band with guitar, bass, drums and trumpet churning out hard
and fast skanking SKA that has been soaked in cheap EAST EUROPEAN VODKA.
A Stoke on Trent based band that is slowly taking over the world...
Imagine.....
a mixture of.... 80s rocking-ska, the Russian Cossack Dance song, the maddest
excesses of Camper van Beethoven (or of The Clash? or of the Specials?),
Kurt Weill's Berlin cabaret songs, the Three Mustaphas Three, Stoke on
Trent, and.. er.. Guttermouth. And
there you have it. The Skalinksis. The maddenest sound around.
True
heirs to the ska crown as hard and faithful as these would be hard to find.
They
rock, in a way Madness would never, ever, have known. I'm totally blown
away - this is original, yet this is traditional, this is both,
in the freshest way possible. Ok,
that was the sound. The sight is stranger. If that's possible. A lead guitar
who looks like the Dead Man out of Ghost, a singer with the hugest
breasts I ever seen (and a face a sculptor would kill for), a jiggingest
bass player who plays a woody guitar, a trumpeter to die for (I
returned from the dead just to write this), and a drummer who is The
Daddy. And their
followers are stranger. A slim-slim quasi-Chinese girl who rolls her own,
a Johny Depp lookalike whose genes produce natural amphetamines, a beautiful
Asian girl who wants to burst out of her lurex, and someone in a ball-gown.
And they all dance like crazy to a song called "Life Isn't Easy especially
If You're A Drunk".
If Prince
Buster had had an affair with Svetlana Stalin and their abandoned children
had been raised in a Romanian orphanage by a sadistic Brummie, the Skalinskis
would be those very same deranged offspring. For
the next five minutes, no matter where you may be in space & time,
the Skalinskis will be the greatest band in the world. The solar system.
The universe. Even back as far as the Big Bang. And possibly before.
The
true, modern, international sound of Ska is here. And is as new
and energetic and as vitalising as ever!
BBC
Radio Stoke web site (anonymous posting in response to the above)
2002:
So I
was looking for something to do in Staffordshire on a Sunday night... chances
are slim, right? But according to Stoke/Staffs Online I could be blown
away by the maddenest sound around, an East meets West ska band playing
at Full Moon in Newcastle. Yeah, right. No, really, yeah, right!
I think this bizarre little local band are on to something. They have a
ska sound with a twist - were there Eastern European gypsy beats floating
in and out of the songs? Were there little moments of nouveau punk
or just old fashioned new wave?
Either
way, the good-time music is tight and the trumpeter is tighter. He's not
interested in playing a look-at-me solo, but blows out amazing ska beats,
through and through. And then there is the rather large lead singer. (Well,
is she a lead singer or a gimmick? She only sings on half the songs) and
then without as much gusto as she surely has. She should stand back from
the mic and belt out her brilliantly monotone hum. Or develop her range
and bring even more je-na-sai-que [sic] to the line-up.
But
their set didn't pander to the somewhat confused dance floor. After playing
a few jumping songs with all sorts wildly dancing, they'd go into a more
morose mode and ....clear the floor!
Until
the end... By closing time, the little dance floor was packed with genuine
ska enthusiasts (those who knew how to do the dance, and those who didn't
), a few be-bopping college types, a few good time girls who left their
handbags behind, a couple who'd taken their ageing dad out for a dance
and even a few pogo-ing punks. All types were having a good time and seemed
to surprise the band by demanding an encore. (An encore at the Full Moon?!)
So...
I've decided, if ever get married, I want the Skalinskis to play at my
wedding. I think grandma would do the cha-cha-cha, dad would do twist,
and cousin Eddie would mosh.
Al
(King Prawn) by email 2002:
you
are one of my fave uk bands. cant wait to hear the new stuff.
Al
(King Prawn) by email 2001:
I picked
up the [new] cd this morning and it is well wicked. I think it's excellent.
I cant wait to see you guys live. I'm gonna play it to death. Cheers.
Al
(King Prawn) by email 2001:
A long
time ago someone sent me your cd. Anyway, it's taken me ages to get round
to contacting you but all I wanted to say is that I think the cd is really
nice.
I
love all that minor [key] shit that you find in russian music as well as
reggae/ska and latino shit. I checked out your site and I'm glad you're
still playing (it was that long ago that I got the cd). so let me know
when you play in london or the S.E. and I'll come and check you out. you
are from stoke, right? keep up the good work.
The
Mars Bar Listings Sept. 2001:
If you
came to see Bad Manners a few months ago, or if you saw 36 Stone
last New Years Eve you will have seen this band and whilst they have supported
such prestigious bands they are a great band in their own right and so
I have given them top slot tonight. They are a Stoke based band playing
vodka driven east European tinged ska, sounds mad I know but it is actually
quite brilliant, great trumpeter by the way.
Do the Dog
Ska Fanzine, Summer 2001:
A totally unique new band hailing
from the Stoke area are the Skalinskis. These guys kick out upbeat Two
Tone Ska flavoured by East European klezmer music. Sounding kinda like
what the Specials would have if they had been Russian, the Skalinskis
have been blazing a trail of live shows all across England in recent months.
They have also put out a cool debut CD EP on Radiation Records.
Holly
Hunter (New Musical Express) 2001:
This
scared me.
The
Mars Bar Listings June 2001:
If you
were lucky enough to come to the 36 Stone New Years Eve gig you will have
already seen the Skalinskis, a cross between Ska and East European kitch,
sounds mad I know, it is, but it really works as well!
Night &
Day Cafe Listings, CD Review Feb. 2001:
First up is an offering from
a Stoke 5 piece called DAS SKALINSKIS, "The Sound of Politics". It looked
terrible and I thought I would start off with an easy target, but in the
end I was quite suprised. Yes, they're a ska band, yes they pretend they're
from the former Eastern Bloc and yes they do have a song called "Living
life is never easy especially when you are a drunk". Coming over like
a Bulgarian version of the Specials, they're probably about 20 years
too late to worry the chart compilers at worldpop.com, but they'd be
great to go out on the lash with!
Denholm
Seigertz (BBC Radio Stoke, following live interview with
band) 2000:
(The Skalinskis were "Featured Artist of the
Week" during October 2000)
I feel like going
out and queuing for some bread!
Splitte -
Splitters
Fanzine, Autumn 2000:
Skalinskis from Stoke played
great
shouty vodka yamming ska music with Dean "Iron Lungs" Wright blowing
down the walls of Babylon with his trumpet.
Sue Bird (Festivals
& Entertainments, Cheltenham International Fringe) 2000:
I would like to thank
you very much for your contribution to the roaring success of this years
fringe festival [Cheltenham International Music Festival].... All the feedback
about the Skalinskis has been very positive - Cheltenham loved you !
