Russian philosopher Emma Goldman is often attributed with the brilliant quote, “A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having,” and few genres of music encapsulate the chaotic nature of revolution and dancing more than ska. With its brilliant fusion of laid-back Caribbean beats, energetic working-class fury, and socially conscious ethos, ska is unquestionably the music of the millennium – or at least, it would be, if people just gave it a chance.
Still, for all ska is often criticized, there’s no question that it’s one of the most iconic music genres in terms of having a rich tradition of covering songs. Ever since the very first wave of ska back in the 1960s, when groups like the Skatalites started working covers of film scores like James Bond and The Guns of Navarone into their sets, ska bands have created brilliant, loving, and innovative covers of songs from all sorts of genres. As 2025 continues to be more and more chaotic, here are ten ska covers to keep you dancing in that revolutionary way.
10
The Interrupters – Bad Guy
Originally by Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” was an inescapable song in 2019, but just a year later, SoCal ska-punks the Interrupters co-opted it for their own nefarious purposes, laying down a shuffling, funky, and downright dank cover. It was featured prominently in Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy season 2, and easily has one of my favorite trombone riffs in all of ska (or at least, my favorite that isn’t played by Skatune Network’s Jer Hunter).
9
Skatune Network Featuring GET TUFF – Toxic
Originally by Britney Spears
Speaking of Skatune Network – the brainchild of polyinstrumental prodigy and music historian Jer Hunter – their entire brand has been built on the back of brilliant ska covers. Their YouTube channel is an excellent mix of covers of vintage pop hits, current chart-toppers, and video game and cartoon soundtrack classics.
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I wrote at length about the brilliance of their cover of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club,” and that same brilliance is on display all the more here, as they transform Britney Spears’ classic “Toxic” into a circle-pit-worthy mosh anthem. Burn the Billboard, the album “Toxic” comes from, is packed to the gills with other fantastic examples of pop-gone-ska. Of particular note is the cover of “Everytime We Touch,” the 2004 single by German dance-pop trio Cascada.
8
Reel Big Fish – Hungry Like The Wolf
Originally by Duran Duran
Reel Big Fish were part of the last gasp of ’90s ska, with some of their early hits like “Sell Out” or their cover of a-ha’s “Take On Me” having just a moment of success before the bubble popped and ska was discarded by the zeitgeist. Yet the best cover in their repertoire is their absolutely frenzied take on Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf.” Originally recorded in 1997 for The Duran Duran Tribute Album, RBF took another shot at it for their 2010 compilation A Best of Us… For the Rest of Us, cranking the tempo up even higher.
7
Streetlight Manifesto – Such Great Heights
Originally by The Postal Service
Streetlight Manifesto – the third wave of ska’s most maximalist champions – released 99 Songs of Revolution: Vol. 1 in 2010, intending it to be the first of a series of eight albums of ska covers from them and other associated artists. Sadly, none of the other volumes have materialized since then, but we still have Vol. 1, which is fantastic from start to finish.
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The album’s best track is easily their relentlessly upbeat take on the Postal Service’s classic “Such Great Heights,” which became as essential listening to my years in grad school as the original had when I was in high school. Streetlight’s cover not only cranks up the tempo and intensity, but adds their signature intricate horn section harmonies, giving the song a triumphant energy that strongly contrasts with the original’s gentle pleading.
6
Furillo – The Final Countdown
Originally by Europe
Furillo are a long-defunct ska band from Denmark, active from the late ’90s to the mid ’00s. Along the way, they contributed to Metalliska, a tribute album to ’80s metal released in 2000. Furillo’s selection for the compilation was this excellently swinging cover of Europe’s “The Final Countdown,” perfect for anyone who thought the original could stand a shot in the arm of sheer manic energy.
5
King Punch – Chop Suey!
Originally by System of a Down
King Punch are a seven-piece ska group from London who describe themselves on their Instagram – with traditional English understatement – as “lively.” Their absolutely gonzo cover of this System of a Down classic closes out their most recent release from 2019, the EP Divide and Conga.
4
Toots & The Maytals – You Really Got Me
Originally by The Kinks
Toots Hibbert was one of the greatest icons of reggae, a contemporary of Bob Marley with a soulful voice that led Rolling Stone to name him one of the greatest singers of all time. From 1962 to his death in 2020 from COVID-19 complications, he was the leader of Toots and the Maytals, one of the most foundational bands in the entire history of ska and the author of such reggae standards as “Pressure Drop,” “54-46 That’s My Number,” and even “Do the Reggay,” the song that named the genre.
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The Maytals’ cover of the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” comes from their 1998 release, Ska Father. The album opens with the uptempo version and closes out with a more laid-back dub version, both of which completely reinvent the original in ways the Van Halen cover could only dream of.
3
Sad Snack – No Children
Originally by the Mountain Goats
“No Children” is one of the Mountain Goats’ most uptempo-but-depressing songs, so it was a fitting one for this San Francisco-based ska band to cover. News of that cover got the attention of Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle, who invited Sad Snack to open for them on their tour through San Francisco in 2022 and joined them onstage for one of the most delightfully chaotic moments I’ve seen (and as a longtime Mountain Goats fan, trust me when I say I’ve seen John get beautifully silly with it a number of times).
The video of the dual performance of “No Children” went viral on Twitter after the concert at San Francisco’s legendary Warfield Theatre, and the attention led Sad Snack to record a studio version to release on their Bandcamp. They also contributed the track to Songs For Moms Volume 2, a ska compilation raising money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
2
We Are The Union – Rasputin
Originally by Boney M.
We Are The Union – the queer ska-punk band that is the sometime home of Jer Hunter – released their cover of disco classic “Rasputin” in 2021 as the last in a series of non-album singles before switching focus to promoting their fifth album, Ordinary Life. The cover was recorded after the original song, first released in 1978 by German disco group Boney M., went viral on TikTok at the beginning of the year and kicked off a memetic dance challenge.
1
Save Ferris – Come On Eileen
Originally by Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Save Ferris and their cover of the ’80s hit “Come On Eileen” smashed up to number 26 on the charts when it dropped in 1997. As the lead single for their debut album, It Means Everything, this jaunty cover and its variety of time signatures catapulted Save Ferris to the forefrunt of the late-’90s ska punk scene, leading them to a main stage spot at the Vans Warped Tour in ’98 and 2000, as well as getting them a cameo in 1999’s teen comedy Shakespeare adaptation 10 Things I Hate About You.
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