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Voodoo Glow Skulls are an underground third-wave ska band. Their music is a mixture of old-style ska, punk and metal. The band formed in 1988 in Riverside, California by brothers Frank, Eddie and Jorge Casillas and their longtime friend Jerry O'Neill. The Voodoo Glow Skulls practiced for two years in a sweaty back bedroom/practice space until they forged a taut unit that performed with demonic intensity and a demented sense of humor. Voodoo Glow Skulls first played out at backyard parties; when Spanky's Café opened they played now-legendary shows with the Angry Samoans, Mighty Mighty Bosstones and The Dickies.
In 1991, the Voodoo Glow Skulls' devotion to ska and the Latin music they grew up on led them to add a horn section in preparation for the band's first national tour. Voodoo Glow Skulls later performed as headliners and support act for The Offspring, No Doubt and 311.
Voodoo Glow Skulls recorded their debut, Who Is, This Is? for Dr. Strange Records in 1992, selling 200,000 copies worldwide. The band signed Epitaph Records and released four CDs that collectively sold over 750,000 copies worldwide. Voodoo Glow Skulls soon began receiving positive critical reviews and the mainstream support of commercial radio and MTV. Eventually they had main stage spot on the 1998 Warped Tour. Their two most recent albums have been released on Victory Records.
Their lyrical content vary between English and Spanish. One of their albums, Firme, is available in both Spanish- and English-language versions. In addition, they made a compilation album called Exitos Al Cabron, a collection of Spanish-language material (compare with Los Grandes Éxitos en Español).
Hickey controversy
Hickey released an audio recording on a seven-inch diameter vinyl disc containing music by Hickey on one side, and members of Hickey playing a trumpet stolen from Voodoo Glow Skulls over the playback of messages left by Voodoo Glow Skulls members and Epitaph Records employees demanding the return of the instrument.
The two bands played together at the now closed Nile Theater in Mesa, Arizona. Matty Luv, singer of Hickey, made disparaging remarks about Epitaph Records and the commercialization of punk. After members of both bands had a confrontation, the venue owner ejected Matty and his bandmates. In response, they stole a trumpet out of the Voodoo Glow Skulls van.
After receiving threats on their answering machine, the band returned the trumpet. They released this album with a booklet chronicling the whole affair.
Discography
Albums
- Who Is, This Is? - 1993
- Firme - 1995
- Firme en Español (Spanish version) - 1996
- Baile de Los Locos - 1997
- The Band Geek Mafia - 1998
- Symbolic - 2000
- Steady As She Goes - 2002
- Adicción, Tradición, Revolución - 2004
Compilations
- Exitos Al Cabron - 1999
- The Potty Training Years - 2000
External links
- Official site
- Fan Community
- Recording of Death Threats to Hickey, via Luv memorial site
American musical groups | Epitaph Records groups | Ska groups | Third-wave ska groups | 1990s music groups | 2000s music groups | California musical groups
"Voodoo Glow Skulls"