8 votes

Lankum - Ghost Town (The Specials cover) (2025)

4 comments

  1. cfabbro
    Link
    This is an Experimental Irish Folk cover song by Lankum of the Ska classic, The Specials - Ghost Town from 1981 which people here may even recognize from a bunch of movies and TV shows like The...

    This is an Experimental Irish Folk cover song by Lankum of the Ska classic, The Specials - Ghost Town from 1981 which people here may even recognize from a bunch of movies and TV shows like The Wire, Shaun of the Dead, Snatch, and Natural Born Killers. Quite a few of The Specials other songs, like Pressure Drop and A Message To You Rudy (my personal favorite track of theirs), have also been used in lots of films and shows over the years too.

    cc: @Staross, since you recently posted Lankum's WGBH performance so I figured you might enjoy this newly released cover song by them too. :)

    4 votes
  2. myrrh
    Link
    ...lankum covering ghost town?!. (watches) ...well that's a heck of a thing; as ever, they do not disappoint...

    ...lankum covering ghost town?!.

    (watches)

    ...well that's a heck of a thing; as ever, they do not disappoint...

    3 votes
  3. [2]
    alp
    Link
    Oh, the joy to hear this! Thank you for sharing, @cfabbro. Lankum and The Specials are two of my favourite artists, both seeming to express similar passions and philosophies through such opposite...

    Oh, the joy to hear this! Thank you for sharing, @cfabbro. Lankum and The Specials are two of my favourite artists, both seeming to express similar passions and philosophies through such opposite means—the folk against the urban, the isolated against the united, the occult against the dry—and yet this crossroads is so perfect! I read that Lankum, despite being so well-versed in boldly Strange covers, of were initially quite reluctant to take on a song like this, so I’m so glad that they did.

    If only Terry were still with us to listen!

    2 votes
    1. cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      YVW, and me too. I love Lankum, but The Specials genuinely hold a special place in my heart. Ska was one of the first music genres I really really got into when I was growing up, and they were the...

      Thank you for sharing, @cfabbro. Lankum and The Specials are two of my favourite artists

      YVW, and me too. I love Lankum, but The Specials genuinely hold a special place in my heart. Ska was one of the first music genres I really really got into when I was growing up, and they were the undesputed kings of the British revival. So seeing this pop up in my feed was a lovely surprise. :)

      the folk against the urban, the isolated against the united, the occult against the dry—and yet this crossroads is so perfect

      Beautifully put, and I couldn't agree more!! I love love love cover songs, but especially ones that completely reinterpret/reimagine the orginal. And IMO this was a perfect example of that working out insanely well, despite the stark contrast of its style to the original.

      3 votes