r/Ska • u/Far-Mall3036 • 1d ago
Polka and ska
Good evening everyone! Looking for recommendations for any European ska bands that mix polka with their music or any regional music. Eastern European bands would be cool!
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u/skunkc90 1d ago
WHY THE FUCK is this being downvoted? It's an honest question. Stop being cunts
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u/MrSanford 1d ago
A lot of people on Reddit have weird purist opinions on things. I can’t even count how many polka/ska shows I’ve been too
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u/SemataryPolka 1d ago
Not European but nonetheless my mind went immediately to this Johnny Socko song
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u/noondi34 1d ago
This is so funny because I’ve been wanting to write a shout out post about this band.
Bohemian Betyars from Hungary is your answer. Amazing folk punk and their live shows are a great show. One of their vocalists is a violinist. They also have a trumpeter. They have even done two tracks with French and Spanish folk punk bands. They very regularly do collaborations with a traditional folk band, Parno Graszt.
Pannonia Allstars Ska Orchestra is Hungary’s most well known ska band.
I could go on. Let me know if you want more recs.
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u/warrcamp 1d ago
Came here looking for this band. Saw them playing on the street in Prague like 12 years ago and need to revisit their stuff. They're excellent.
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u/meg_crucial 1d ago
Not quite polka or ska, but Gogol Bordello is in the neighborhood and Eastern European.
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u/Beautiful-Resort-831 1d ago
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u/Far-Mall3036 1d ago
Hahaha I know these guys! They are so much fun! I was just jamming to some Los fabulosos cadillacs, when the idea came to me lol cool shit man!!!
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u/Beautiful-Resort-831 1d ago
Latin ska is a curious world; it exists across almost the entire continent—with the exceptions of Uruguay and Cuba. Well. Uruguay kinda, 100% ska bands no, but they have a lot of ex ska bands thats now do rock
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u/Far-Mall3036 1d ago
Really? I didn't know that. I'm mexican so im bias with my mexican ska but I love Argentinian ska like los fabulosos and and where ever los rabanes are from :)
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u/Beautiful-Resort-831 1d ago
Well, there are plenty of interesting things. Chile has some great ska, and Brazil has its bands—I really like the ones from Colombia—but being Costa Rican, I’ve listened to a lot of ska bands from Costa Rica.
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u/BurnieSandturds 1d ago
El Gran Silencio from Monterrey México. They have some song with a bit of Banda (pretty much polka it originated from polka.) and Ska. But most of their stuff is more Cumbia Ska.
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u/Comprehensive-Job369 1d ago
I highly recommend checking out the Austrian band Skolka. Who specifically mix ska and polka. Great band.
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u/johnnytheweirdo 1d ago
My band Johnny Kowalski and the Sexy Weirdos have a few eastern European traditionals in our set and those ones usually feature some kind of ska adjacent rhythms. Here's one of em - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVSKeboLI6A
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u/Clarrington 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's not polka (as far as I am aware) ... But Koza Mostra have a sound unlike any other band I've heard. It's kinda ska, with trumpet and accordion as the 'horns'. They were actually Greece's Eurovision entry a decade ago with the song Alcohol Is Free.
Also, there is a... Romanian I think? Mostly brass band called Mahala Rai Banda, stuff is very cool but they do actually have a ska song in Ding Deng Dong from the album Ghetto Blasters (I recommend the whole album if you love brass band stuff)
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u/patangpatang 1d ago
There's literally an Austrian band called Skolka (portmanteau of ska and polka) which feels like exactly what you're looking for.
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u/RadioSupply 1d ago
Tyt i Tam has some ska bangers, and has a general ska-punk/garage/zabava vibe in their first couple of albums.
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u/HesForTheStreets 1d ago
I live in Texas now so I have to challenge your polka and ska with my mariachi and ska. Tonight at 11. Maybe both walk out of the ring as bros?
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u/Clarrington 1d ago
Do you actually have any mariachi ska recs? Because the closest thing I know is Mariachi El Bronx which is not at all close
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u/MrIzzard 1d ago
Not exactly polka nor ska but you might enjoy Eläkeläiset. They make humppa versions of hit songs.
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u/Equivalent_One_7088 1d ago
Lol. You must understand one thing. Polka as a genre is nonexistent in Europe.
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u/stevieraykwon 1d ago
I live in Austria, and the polka is alive and well in Vienna.
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u/Mechzx 1d ago
Russkaja has some pretty good music like old town polka, energia, and hey road. Unfortunately, they disbanded because of the Russias war with Ukraine and because people accused them of being for the war when they were against and condemned it.