The Original Taike Rockers--LTK Commune

At last year's Taike Rock concert, rocker Wu Bai proclaimed himself the "Taike Kingpin." However, in the minds of many true Taiwanese music fans, the real origins of Taike rock lie elsewhere--with the legendary underground band LTK Commune.

Formed in 1989, the band has gone through many line-up changes in its 17 years. With their four studio albums, Underground Music File 5, Revenge of the Taike, Too Smelly, and LTK Commune IV, they're Taiwan's most venerated and influential underground rock band.

The "LTK" comes from an abbreviation of the Choshui River's Taiwanese-language name. The band wanted a name with a rootsy feel that would also show their left-wing sentiments of social concern. Their sound is a mix of local, Taiwanese elements and Western punk stylings. Their album Revenge of the Taike came out back in 1999, long before the "Taike" media frenzy. On it, driving punk rock is mixed with such populist Taiwanese elements as puppet shows, Taiwanese Opera, AM radio medicine ads, funeral bands, supper clubs, and brightly lit mobile stages. They all come together to make what the band themselves term "Taike" rock.

LTK Commune's lyrics are brash and direct, employing all sorts of crude slang to depict youthful sexual frustrations and nonsensical ravings--and subversively satirize a society they find lacking.

Lead singer Ko Jen-chien is from Kaohsiung. He says they first started using the term "Taike" as a way to reject the Western label "punk" that was applied to their music and celebrate the comparatively carefree lifestyle of central and southern Taiwan. They purposely used this originally negative word in the title of their album of raw sounds and biting lyrics Revenge of the Taike. Critics consider the album a Taiwanese classic, and the band's style has influenced countless younger bands.

LTK Commune is also renowned for their unique live performances. They don't worry about playing in tune with each other, but rather spend most of their time onstage messing around or acting out skits. Ko suddenly appears as a Taoist general god, setting off firecrackers onstage and divining winning lottery numbers. Then he's passing out vegetables in the name of Taiwan's farmers. Next he's got on a catcher's mask, rooting for a Taiwanese baseball team. An LTK Commune show is an amalgamation of traditional Taiwanese temple festival, whistle-stop political stump speech, supper club, and action art.

Ko says that the artists who've influenced LTK Commune the most actually aren't Western rock heroes, but homegrown variety show hosts like Ho Yi-hang, Kao Ling-feng, and Chu Ko Liang, and programs like Diamond Stage or Happy Every Day. "They're tacky to the point that they've got an attitude about it," Ko says.

For the last few years, LTK Commune have played late on the last night of the annual Formoz Festival. When they take the stage, the buzz in the crowd is even greater than it is for more mainstream stars like Bobby Chen. Though their playing is sloppy, their skits are always amusing. Every year during their set, excited fans throw water bottles and other garbage at the stage in a unique sort of tribute to the band.

The recent "Taike phenomenon" is testament to the vision of LTK Commune. Refusing to merely ape Western rock styles, they've been bravely drawing inspiration from Taiwanese working-class culture for more than ten years now. That's made them stand apart from the crowd for all these years and assured them their legendary status on the Taiwanese rock scene.

Raucus LTK Commune is a legend on Taiwan's underground rock scene.

LTK Commune lead singer Ko Jen-chien.