SKA FRIDAY #6 The Prague Ska Conspiricy - Life on the Ropes

For some people, ska will always mean one thing: nostalgia. If you’ve read the past few Ska Fridays, it’s been pretty evident I am reminiscing. Skanking at 23 is much harder, both physically and socially. Ever get a black eye by accident from a 17 year-old? Shit sucks.

Well, fuck it, and fuck you! No more looking back. No time like the present, baby! Here is a crazy ska band I found out about only a few months ago, completely by accident—The Prague Ska Conspiracy.

The Prague Ska Conspiracy is exactly what it sounds like, a ska band, from Prague, with an element of mystery, but I don’t think their enigmatic qualities are on purpose as much as they are lost in translation. As far as I can tell, they are all from Prague, minus the lead singer, who either is actually from Africa or is a black girl from Europe who hired a Czech kid with a loose grasp of the English language to make the band’s Myspace.

The Prague Ska Conspiracy plays classic reggae/big band style Ska with charming lyrics and a soul influence that makes them very simple and accessible. Their album artwork all seems stolen from some place or another, from Shepard Fairey to Queen, and their music videos all seem like they were shot on iPhones. I personally find that endearing, as if they were some sort of Soviet satellite boot-leg of Amy Whinehouse. They’re like a plastic camera you can buy for cheap, which seems to steal every element of 60’s industrial design but was manufactured in 2007.

The entire band seems to speak English very well in the interviews I have seen on YouTube. Were it not for the name and website, I would have never known they were from The Czech Republic. Apparently, the singer, Mariana, gave birth recently, which caused the band to re-evaluate their presence in the music world, dropping their horn section as well “Ska” and “The” from their name. BOO!

Check them out, and show them to your Mom. I promise, she’ll love them.