During the last days of the Chinese zodiac's Year of the Cock, the Flaming Cocks embarked on their first tour: a handful of concerts around the Czech Republic, plus a gig each in Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava.

Life on the road taught the band a few lessons — most notably that big skinheads throw big punches and taxi drivers will steal inattentive passengers' belongings, requiring extensive intervention on the part of the Czech Embassy in Bratislava to get them back. But the experience overall was rewarding, and with the group's first album due out this spring and heads full of hopes and experiences, the Cocks now know what to do when they hit the road again.

"The tour was short, but intensive," says guitarist Krleš Lukeš, who also plays in ska band 2v1. "After the five days, we realized that if we went on a longer tour, we have to drink less and take care of ourselves more."

The Flaming Cocks' name came from a group Lukeš played in as an exchange student in Massachusetts when he was in high school. The U.S. Cocks never played out or recorded anything, so Lukeš hung on to the moniker and revived it for the local version.

A concept shared by Lukeš and Kuba SiŔor, both of whom had been playing in ska bands and wanted to expand to rock 'n' roll, gave birth to the Flaming Cocks. The guitarists' idea required two things: a standup bass and vocals in English. The two estimate that there are only five standup bassists in punk or rock bands in Prague, so they were lucky to score Matűj Fesanicz, who also plays in the psychobilly band Bad Tones. For vocals, they found Mirek Škultéty, the singer of ska band Drunken Boomerang and a screenwriting student at FAMU. Honza "Hrky" Hrkal, who also drums for hardcore band Dreadrot, supplies the brawny beats and juvenile jokes.

The lineup cemented, the Flaming Cocks set out to assault the world with their "turbo rock 'n' roll," a phrase they use to describe the Cocks' blend of punk, rock and hardcore. The idea is that no matter what musical background someone comes from — fans of one member's ska project don't often show up at another's psychobilly show, for example — rock 'n' roll unites the world, especially when it's played loud, fast and dirty.

"Everything is rock 'n' roll," says Škultéty, who had a role in the 2004 film Pánská jízda. "Even though I'm ignorant, that's what I know."

The biggest problem fans of the members' other bands have is that they're not quite sure how to dance at a Flaming Cocks show. Aficionados of hardcore music need to adjust their tempos on the floor; ska fans don't get to skank.