Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: BBC (Bovell, Brown, Cobby) "Quality Weed," Leon Dinero "If You Ask Me" b/w Screechy Dan "Bandits"

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

"Quality Weed" (7" vinyl single, Declasse Records, 2019) is a terrific,  amusing, pro-pot cut borne of a collaboration between Dennis Bovell (Blackbeard, Matumbi, The 4th Street Orchestra), Jimmy Brown (UB40), and Steve Cobby (DJ/producer, Fila Brazilia, The Solid Doctor). The lyrics, sung by Bovell with his almost impossibly deep voice, pretty much sum up the proceedings: "Take my advice now, now hear ye this/There's nothing wrong with cannabis/Set yourself free whenever you wanna/Avail yourself of some marijuana/Select the buds and plant the seeds/To be sure that you're partaking of quality weed..."

The track is presented in two versions, a traditional, dubby roots reggae take and a house remix on the flip side (that manages to retain its reggae flavor through the bass line and brass). With its cranked up BPM and additional percussive touches, the house version--unsurprisingly--has more life to it and is actually the better of the two. Essential for Bovell completists like this reviewer; diversionary fun for everyone else.

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This is the second Daptone single from singer Leon Dinero and producer Victor Axelrod (upon first hearing his debut from earlier this year--"Lover Like Me" b/w "Conscious is Heavy"-- you'd swear it was a lost '60s Skatalites/Jackie Mittoo 45 recovered from Studio One's vaults--it's superb). "If You Ask Me" (7" vinyl single, Daptone Records, 2019) is one of the late Dan Klein's sweet rocksteady compositions that was considered for The Frightnrs debut LP back in 2016, but put aside in favor of other material. Dinero, backed by the remaining Frightnrs, does this lovely, pleading love song justice ("If you ask me to/I would be the very best me I could be...") and this cut reminds the listener, once again, of Klein's considerable songwriting gifts. "Bandits" features Screechy Dan on the mic decrying the predatory and racist policy of allowing the gentrification of large swathes of Brooklyn by greedy landlords/real estate developers (with tacit approval from the city) and the resulting mass displacement of poor/working class people of color (from neighborhoods where they've lived for decades) over the boss "If You Ask Me" instrumental track: "From Bed Stuy to Crown Heights to Flatbush/Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, down to Red Hook/It's like bandits come in/Have the place shook/While we look as our culture get ambushed..." Like all truly great and catchy protest songs, "Bandits" moves both your body and conscience (that is, if you have one).

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The Frightnrs New Album "Nothing More To Say" To Be Released on 9/2/16 on Daptone Records!

The Frightnrs' forthcoming album, Nothing More To Say, will be released on September 2, 2016 through Daptone Records. You can pre-order the digital album now through The Frightnrs' Bandcamp page (you can't preview any tracks just yet there--but you can listen to samples at Amazon). There's no word as to when the LP and CD can be pre-ordered from Daptone (though you can pre-order both on Amazon now).

Obviously, this is a very bittersweet achievement/moment for the band, as their incredible singer, Dan "Brukky" Klein, recently passed away from ALS. But I expect that the music contained on this album will be a wonderful way to remember and celebrate Klein's music and life.

If The Frightnrs' previous releases are any indication, Nothing More To Say should be a brilliant album of rocksteady, reggae, early dancehall, and rub-a-dub.

I'll be sure to post review it when it's out.

The Frightnrs on Mad Decent: Free Download and upcoming EP and 7"!

In what is a very significant development for a band from NYC's under-the-radar ska/reggae scene, Mad Decent--Diplo's label (Major Lazer, Santogold, Snoop Lion)--is releasing a digital EP and 7" from Queens, NY's very own Frightnrs in August 2015 (and this is in addition to the band's recent "I'd Rather Go Blind" single on Daptone)!

To help promote this release, you can hear/download The Frightnrs' "Admiration" (expertly produced by Victor "Ticklah" Axelrod), as well as a dubby EDM remix of the track by Toddla T and Cadenza, by checking out the Mad Decent Soundcloud page.

"Admiration" was originally released on The Frightnrs' fantastic 12/21/12 digital EP (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of it here). This is what I had to say about the track a while back:

"The unfairly-accused narrator (more fool for a pretty face than anti-hero) of the spaghetti Western cut "Admiration" ("They're gonna punish me for something that I didn't do!") is desperately determined to evade his pursuers, since capture will certainly subject him to vigilante justice: "I didn't know her before today/Now, I'll walk across the sand/and I'll sail across the sea/They've got their nooses ready/hanging underneath a tree/With their horses and their guns/they've got this man on the run/But what I have done remains a mystery to me." The precise and relentless beat of this track conveys the pressured urgency of continually pushing forward to stay free and, more importantly, alive--while a ringing, almost shimmering solo guitar line conveys his loneliness as he plods across a bleak, sun-baked landscape that stretches to the horizon and offers no sanctuary."

The Frightnrs are phenomenally good! Here's hoping that Mad Decent bring The Frightnrs the recognition and fans they deserve!

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Update 7/24/15: The title of The Frightnrs new six-track EP is Inna Lovers Quarrel and the iTunes pre-order is on now.

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The Frightnrs To Release Single on Daptone!

The Frightnrs, who play an amazing mix of rocksteady, reggae, and rub-a-dub and are one of my favorite bands on the NYC ska/reggae scene (they hail from Queens, like The Ramones!), are releasing a new single--a phenomenal cover of Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind" backed with a dub version by Victor "Ticklah" Axelrod--on Daptone Records on June 30, 2015. You can pre-order the single here (in addition to standard black vinyl, there's a limited edition of 100 copies on translucent orange wax for the collectors--I've ordered mine!).


For some background on The Frightnrs, check out The Duff Guide to Ska reviews of some of their previous releases: The Frightnrs six-track EP and the four-track 12/21/12 EP. Both are highly recommended.