LTK Commune

LTK Commune (aka LTK, Taiwanese: ''Lô-chúi-khoe Kong-siā'' 濁水溪公社) is a well-known Taiwanese "underground" band founded in 1990. Their music has been variously described as having elements of punk, rock,

nakasi ''Nakasi'' () or is a traditional popular music form in Japan and Taiwan, most stereotypically associated with elements of working-class culture such as the old tea parlors and drinking bars. One explanation supposes that the word describes the ...

, Taiwanese folk songs. In recent years band members have self-consciously applied the label "Taik" (from ''Tai''wanese + -k ending, as in ''punk'', ''rock'') to their music – a reference to the

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

ese '' Taike'' ( Trad.: 台客) subculture. The ''LTK'' stands for "Loh Tsui Kweh", an idiosyncratic spelling (in Taiwanese) of the name of the

Choshui River The Zhuoshui River, also spelled Choshui or Jhuoshuei River, () is the longest river in Taiwan. It flows from its source in Nantou County up to the western border of the county, subsequently forming the border between Yunlin County and Changhua ...

in Taiwan, one that evokes nativist sentiments. The two guitar players – Tsai Hai-en (蔡海恩) and Ke Jen-chien (柯仁堅) – share lead vocals. Both attended

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imper ...

but left school early. Between the two of them they have driven the band's evolution. The critic Malaite attributes the group's early grunge influence to Tsai

In addition to Western influences, both of them are, in their own ways, steeped in local, traditionally working class genres. There is also a bass player and a drummer. LTK Commune's earlier music echoes the island's protest movements of the early 1990s. Earlier themes have consciously reflected environmentalism, environmentalist concerns and

anti-authoritarian Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as "a form of social organisation characterised by submission to authority", "favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom" an ...

sentiments. With the decline of street protests and the onset of political liberalization, socially conscious themes have become less foregrounded. The band unabashedly supports

Taiwan independence Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a Country, country in East Asia, at the junction of the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) to the n ...

. Their songs often express the frustration of the Taiwanese

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

male Male (Mars symbol, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot sexual reproduction, repro ...

. Unapologetically sexual or

scatological In medicine and biology, scatology or coprology is the study of feces. Scatological studies allow one to determine a wide range of biological information about a creature, including its diet (and thus where it has been), health and diseases su ...

references and vulgar language are found in some songs, a characteristic embraced by the fans but found outrageous by some critics. Some critics detect a streak of

male chauvinism Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotism ...

, most notably in the song "Rape, Murder"; others consider the song as a study of the perverse psyche of a rapist-murderer. Much of the lyrics are in the native Taiwanese language, a choice consistent with the language's working class base, as well as the anti-

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

Opposition culture. Spoken monologues reminiscent of traditional melodrama (such as

Budaixi Glove puppetry () is a type of opera using cloth puppets that originated during the 17th century in Quanzhou or Zhangzhou of China's Fujian province, and historically practised in the Min Nan-speaking areas such as Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, the Chaos ...

Taiwanese opera Taiwanese opera () commonly known as Ke-Tse opera or Hokkien opera, is a form of traditional drama originating in Taiwan. Taiwanese opera uses a stylised combination of both the literary and colloquial registers of Taiwanese Hokkien. Its earliest ...

) are a favored device in their narratives. LTK Commune's live performances are noted for their spontaneity and engagement with the crowd. {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1990 Taiwanese punk rock groups 1990 establishments in Taiwan