The Incredible Skank Brothers article The reviews

An article about The Incredible Skank Brothers, for THE STREETS zine.



The Incredible Skank Brothers are a six-piece ska band from north-east England who have been on the scene for nearly a year now. During that time they've played in pubs and clubs all over the area, and have been amazed at the positive audience reaction they've received, putting paid to the myth that ska could possibly have been dead.

Their music is mainly made up of cover versions of bands such as Madness, The Specials, The Beat and Bad Manners (to name but a few), but they do play a few Skank Brother-penned songs, and are aiming to write enough to consider an album release at the end of 1996.

Originally, The Incredible Skank Brothers were a seven-piece band, but in November last year three of the members (the singer, bassist and keyboardist) disappeared from the area without a trace, reportedly to breed donkeys in the Outer Hebrides. Fortunately, with the band being well-connected, the remaining members had no problem in recruiting a new singer and a bass player, opting from then on to do without keyboards. The line-up now consists of Garth 'B' Skank on vocals, Lenny 'The Lips' Skank on sax, Hank 'B' Skank on lead guitar, HMS Sid Skank on rhythm guitar, Guitar George Skank on bass guitar and Stevie 'Skin' Skank on drums.

The band normally play a couple of gigs a month in Newcastle, Hartlepool, Sunderland and nearby places, to audiences of 50 - 100 people, whether it be headline gigs, support slots, private parties or festivals. They're happy to play in front of anybody - any age, any size or shape, any musical tastes - they just want to spread ska music around as far as possible. Last year a planned week-long tour of Spain never got off the ground due to lack of financial backing, but the guys are now aiming to hire a tour bus and visit the States during the summer, providing suitable offers come in.

On-stage, The Incredible Skank Brothers don their trilbies, braces and shades, and make a party of it - dancing their way through their numbers, having a laugh with the crowd. Off-stage, they are also good friends and drinking-buddies who go back a long way. Briefly... (pause for breath)... Hank used to be in ska band The Bed and Breakfast Men along with Stevie, who is real-life brother of Sid, who used to jam with Hank in a band called The Blue Fish their schooldays before joining almost successful punk spoof band R***** D**** F***, and who currently works with Garth, not far from Lenny (who has known George from childhood), who runs his own woodwind repair business, and has spent the past few years mending saxes and stuff for some of the biggest names in music.

If you ever see that the band are playing somewhere in your area, put your shades and your dancing shoes on and get on down to see them - and have a skanking brilliant time!