IT'S A SKA WORLD AFTER ALL

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

Every few years someone says ska will be the next big thing in music. Maybe it's wishful thinking. After all, ska, a kinetic forerunner to reggae, with infectious dance beats and lively horn bursts, is appealing. But even Tony Kanal, bassist for the ska-tinged pop band No Doubt, says ska isn't about to "take over the country." Still, it may take over a few CD players.

Ska was born in Jamaica in the 1950s and championed by the likes of Bob Marley in his early career, Ernest Ranglin (who has a new CD out) and the Skatalites (ditto). In the late '70s ska resurfaced in the unlikely setting of Coventry, England, where the small but influential 2-Tone label brought back the sound with acts like the Selecter and the Specials (who just released a comeback CD).

Now another wave of ska is cresting. It started in the late '80s with such groups as Fishbone (yes, that group has a new CD out too) and the Toasters. It continues today with No Doubt, which has an uneven album, Tragic Kingdom, in Billboard's Top 10, fueled by a superb new single, Spiderwebs; Rancid, the terrific punk-ska band featured on this year's Lollapalooza tour; Sublime; and numerous ska-compilation CDs that showcase up-and-comers. Two fine ones worth seeking out: Ska the Third Wave Vol. 2, with songs by such acts as Mock Turtle Soup, and Roots, Branch and Stem-Living Tradition in Ska!, featuring the Blue Beats and others.

California, home to Rancid and Sublime, is the hottest region for ska. There it neatly commingles with skateboarding culture (skateboards are to ska what flannel was to grunge). In fact, much of today's ska is chameleonic, blending with hip-hop (Sublime), pop (No Doubt) and punk (Rancid, Goldfinger). Rancid's Matt Freeman says the music is bigger than trends, and "whether [the attention] goes or stays, we'll still be around."

--C.J.F. With reporting by Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles

With reporting by Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles