Captain SKA
OriginLondon, England
Genres
Years active2010–present
LabelsCaptain's Records
Websitewww.captainska.com

Captain SKA is a politically-active British band which produces and performs reggae and ska songs. The band is composed of unsigned, freelance session musicians.[1] Members of the band have recorded and performed with artists including Culture Club, Paloma Faith, the Friendly Fires, Girls Aloud, The Streets, and Vampire Weekend.[2][3]

History

The band first came to prominence in 2010 with the release of the song "Liar Liar". At the time there were protests against a rise in college tuition fees in the UK, and the song had attacked the coalition government of the time, led by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and Liberal Democrat and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.[4][5]

In 2011, they released another song attacking deputy prime minister Clegg. It was entitled "What's The Point Of Nick Clegg?"[6]

In 2017, the band again rose to prominence with the success of a reworked version of "Liar Liar", titled "Liar Liar GE2017". The song was released in the run-up to the 2017 United Kingdom general election, with an accompanying video, that features music and vocals mixed with selected speeches and interviews by British Conservative politician and Prime Minister Theresa May.[7][3] "Liar Liar GE2017" charted at Number 4 in the UK Singles Chart on 2 June 2017.[8]

In May 2019, in response to Nigel Farage's Brexit Party performing well in polls leading up to the European Parliament election, the group released "Nigel Farage is a Racist".[9]

Ideology

The Guardian featured an opinion piece by Captain SKA songwriters Christy Kulz and Jake Painter, on 7 June 2017. Writing about the original song, "Liar Liar", they said that "It was a way to make politics more relevant and accessible to a wider audience, including young people, by challenging the 'I’m not into politics' refrain."[10] The authors observed that young people are encouraged to "tune out of politics and focus on songs about sex, love and breakups," saying that while these latter issues are important, "there needs to be room for a richer and wider discussion" of political issues, such as power and privilege.[10]

Other media coverage

  • Kulz, Christy; Painter, Jake (7 June 2017). "We wrote Liar Liar about David Cameron. But it works for Theresa May too". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Written by members of Captain SKA.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ White, Charles (29 May 2017). "Anti-Theresa May song 'banned by radios' makes its way up the charts". Metro. DMG Media. Archived from the original on 30 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  2. ↑ Staff (2017). "About Captain SKA". Captain SKA. Archived from the original on 4 June 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  3. 1 2 Staff (2 June 2017). "Theresa May protest track, Liar Liar GE2017, number four on Official Singles Chart". Newsbeat. BBC. Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  4. ↑ Monks Kaufman, Sophie (16 December 2010). "Captain Ska on "Liar Liar"". New Statesman. Progressive Digital Media. Archived from the original on 3 June 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  5. ↑ Das, Shamik (19 November 2010). "Nearly 50,000 hits for Clegg-Osborne "liar liar" video". Left Foot Forward. Archived from the original on 4 June 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  6. ↑ Staff (30 May 2017). "A song brandishing Theresa May as a 'liar' has climbed up the charts just weeks before the General Election". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 30 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  7. ↑ Staff (27 May 2017). "Captain Ska Now Tells May She's A Liar Liar". Morning Star. People's Press Printing Society. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  8. ↑ Staff (2 June 2017). "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts. Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "Milkshakes are the least of the Brexit Party's woes". Vox Political. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  10. 1 2 3 Kulz, Christy; Painter, Jake (7 June 2017). "We wrote Liar Liar about David Cameron. But it works for Theresa May too". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017. Written by members of Captain SKA.


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