Biography
Shaka Ponk, the French electro-punk collective recognized above all for its digitally animated monkey mascot Goz, originated one year prior to the arrival of Damon Albarn's Gorillaz yet waited four years longer before landing a record contract. Web designer Frah and guitarist CC established the project in 2000 and spent their early months testing an array of visual methods before adding bassist Thias and drummer Bobe-OD to round out the roster. The group swiftly built a following as an essential live act through its multilingual mix of rock, funk, hip-hop, and punk paired with striking imagery, an approach the members honed on their self-run web series Monkey TV. A deal with Edel Music arrived in 2005, yielding the debut album Loco con da Frenchy Talkin the following year; that release was succeeded by Bad Porn Movie Trax in 2009 and The Geeks & the Jerkin' Socks in 2011, the last of these introducing new lead vocalist Samaha Sam.