The Wahoo Skiffle Crazies have been around the SI music scene for a long damn time. They’ve seen contemporary bands form and break up, have had various lineups and members come and go, and several of them have gotten married and become parents several times over now. But through it all, they’ve only grown into a stronger collective unit. If their latest release (‘Spinnin’ Around’) is any indication, they’re only getting sharper with each passing year.
When you think about Staten Island and music, a lot of people think of the Wu-Tang Clan or Ingrid Michelson. But I think it says a lot about them that to many people the real ambassadors of Shaolin are The Wahoos.
Listening to this latest collection, it’s not hard to see why. There’s a playful earnestness to these songs that resonates in any form. The fact that The Wahoos are a jug band only serves to underline and reinforce the more colonial roots of Staten Island in a very tangible and evergreen way.
So if you are looking for some new music to check out or haven’t given The Wahoos a spin in a while, go give their latest a whirl. It’s available now on CD Baby and iTunes.
Vin Forte is a writer. He also hosts the ‘Any Time with Vin Forte’ podcast. He is currently working on an anthology of short stories due out later this year.
