Duff Review: The Equators "Nice to Be Nice"

Self-released
Digital single
2020

(Review by Steve Shafer)

The Equators, of course, are the all-Black Birmingham-based ska band that pre-dated The Beat, opted to sign with Stiff Records rather than 2 Tone, backed Desmond Dekker on some of his 1980 Black and Dekker album, inspired The Untouchables to form, and released one incredible album (Hot) in 1981, just as 2 Tone was flaming out.

The Bailey brothers (Don, Rocky, and Leo) reformed the band with several new members in 2017 and released the digital single "Bed of Roses" (about the difficult experience of immigrating from the Caribbean to the UK in the 1960s). The Equators' excellent new single "Nice to Be Nice" is much more upbeat--they're pitching it as this summer's anthem and certainly have made a strong case for it. It's a sweet, crisp, and brisk ska track that's about nothing more than the minor miracle (particularly these days) of how a beautiful day can make you happy: "Feeling nice/Feeling really good/As I walk through my neighborhood/No dark clouds in the sky/Make everybody feel so nice." Put this on if your mood needs a boost.

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