Duff Review: Detroit Riddim Crew meets Crazy Baldhead "Instru-Mental"

Abbey Productions/Jump Up Records
12" vinyl LP/digital
2022

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Instru-Mental, the sophomore LP from Eric Abbey's Detroit Riddim Crew, is an entirely different beast from their great debut album Detroit Riddim Crew and Friends (read my review of it here). That record featured ska-ified secular Christmas cuts on the A side and a collection of ska, rocksteady, reggae, and dancehall tracks with a rotating cast of musicians on the B. This time out, the concept is five wonderfully moody Abbey-penned ska and reggae instrumentals (acely performed by members of Mephiskapheles, J. Navarro & the Traitors, Dub is a Weapon, Monkey, Full Watts Band/Uzimon, Pilfers, Unsteady/Smoke & Mirrors Soundsystem, 1592, Dirty Notion, and even a few Abbey offspring) paired with dub concoctions created by Crazy Baldhead (AKA Jayson Nugent)--and the resuts are pretty sweet.

Like its cover artwork that borrows elements from Saul Bass' graphic design work for Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, the songs on Instru-Mental have a filmic quality to them. "Dark Dance" sounds like the theme song to a horror movie (think "Nightmare on Elm Street" or "Evil Dead") and it would have fit in well on Mato's phenomenal Scary Dub LP. "Midnight Walk," which was unearthed after two decades in lying in Abbey's archive (or, um, crypt!), is appropriately eerie, particularly in its dub version. "Traveling" is superb Upsetters-styled early reggae and the spaghetti Western reggae "Forward" sports an awesomely dramatic surf guitar solo. And Crazy Baldhead's masterful dub work takes everything to a new level, deconstructing and reassembling the originals in all sorts of clever and electrifying ways.

Instru-Mental already makes on my list of top 2022 releases (can't wait to get my hands on the vinyl), and I look forward to listening to it repeatedly to keep me going no matter what the rest of this year brings.

+ + + +

Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: The Skapones/Detroit Riddim Crew "Eyes of a Child" b/w "Look Around" and The End Times "The End Times"

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

"Eyes of a Child" b/w "Look Around" (7" vinyl picture sleeve single/digital, Cosa Nostra Records, 2021) is the terrific second split single from The Skapones and Detroit Riddim Crew (read my review of their first 45 here). The Skapones' cut is a surprisingly lush, slow-burning ska tour de force that reminds the listener how vital it is for adults to empathize with kids and shield their innocence as they learn and grow--to defend them from what they're not old enough to know might harm them: "You look at the world through the eyes of the child/Imagine it is all meek and mild/It's now that you start to realize, to do what's right/When you gonna learn that sometimes you have to fight?" When you flip the record, you'll find that the Detroit Riddim Crew's "Look Around" is a brisk, determined reggae track about keeping going on (through music and unity, of course), even as everything around us seems to be coming apart: "The world's aflame/And has a dying light/But we come together to find some fight/To the music that fills our souls/Dance, dance, 'till we overflow!"

Forged from members of NYC/NJ area bands Inspecter 7 and The Rudie Crew (RIP Roy Radics), The End Times produce a '90s ska sound that's a fierce mix of trad, modern, and punk-ish ska with blistering, Lee Ving-like hardcore vocals troweled on top (and the contrast works surprising well). Call it Armagideon ska. Their self-titled debut EP (digital, self-released, 2021) is pretty fantastic--and its first several tracks, in particular, are stellar. The EP is clearly a product of having lived through the horrendous Trump/MAGA years and all of its lies, corruption, gaslighting, and hate. But it also speaks to the disintegration of American civic society and how a major political party and around a third of our fellow citizens have embraced white supremacy and authoritarianism. In the uncompromising, "Eye for an Eye" (which takes "Racist Friend" a couple of steps further), The End Times spell out what they think it's going to take to take on the nazi goons in our midst: 

Eyes on the future what do you see?
Is it inclusive to people like you and me?
Or do we have to raise hell and bring them to their knees?
Yeah, we could just stand by and watch them cheat and steal and lie right through their teeth
What good’s your freedom, man, when they’re free to squash your liberty!

Eye for an eye!

We want justice! We want peace! We want your attention, so take a knee!
We gotta take a good look and acknowledge what they’ve become
And if you think they’ll listen and reason with our plight... Here’s a shovel
Start digging your own demise

You kick my shin?
I break your leg
And that’s the way it’s gotta be!

Gandhi may not like it ("An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind"), but, then again, look what it took the last time to beat back the fascists (hopefully, we're not headed down that path). "The Melt" was recorded before the despicable seditionist insurrection on January 6 but is still very much about it, since it's about the enemy within--the call's coming from inside the house:

It started today
Digital bullies flex their muscles through broadband shields
And I’m sorry to say
Their wholesale market of belief won’t impress you
Oh, say, did you see?
It’s like they drew it up on blackboards in Hollywood
And they defined where the truth lay
Then redefined it ‘cause they could...

...Now it’s melting and we can’t escape ourselves.

"Black Hat" (what you'd call a malicious hacker) is a terrific Scofflaws-like instrumental, while the full-on punk track "Vampires" calls out the MAGA/Fox/right-wing media ecosphere that profits mightily off the garbage, gaslighting, and conspiracy theories that are spewed out daily, and reminds their followers that, "You don’t need a lie to believe in/You don’t have to lie to believe some one." The message is unlikely to be received, but it's definitely worth transmitting. Make sure to tune into The End Times.

+ + + +

Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: Various Artists: "Do the Dog Ska-A-Go-Go, Volume 3"

Do the Dog Music
Digital
2021

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Since Kevin Flowerdew's essential Do the Dog Skazine is so thorough in its coverage of the global ska scene--far beyond what I'm able to digest and review each year for The Duff Guide to Ska--it only follows that I've only heard around half of the bands/songs on his fantastic new compilation Do the Dog Ska-A-Go-Go, Volume 3. This compilation features an extremely generous 47 tracks (!) of ska varying in style from traditional to 2 Tone to ska-punk from acts all over the world (some of them singing in languages other than English). Come for some of the better-known bands on Do the Dog Ska-A-Go-Go, Volume 3 like The Planet Smashers, Maroon Town, Cartoon Violence, The Bionic Rats, The Bruce Lee Band, Erin Bardwell, Crazy Baldhead, King Kong 4, The Co-operators & Friends, The Pomps, Detroit Riddim Crew, Catbite, The Skapones, Zen Baseballbat, Barbicide, The Abruptors,  Stop the Presses, The Players Band, Bad Operation, Some Ska Band, The Simmertones, Flowerdew's own Bakesys, and you'll walk away with many new faves, including acts like T-Killas, The Kubricks, RudeSix, GoGo 13, Los Fastidios & Elisa Dixan, and more. All participating acts contributed their music to help Kevin keep on publishing future issues of Do the Dog Skazine, which--in old school zine fashion--is only available in its print version from the man himself. 

Duff Guide to Ska Lightning Round: Detroit Riddim Crew "Fight for Your Rights" b/w "Fallen Down," "Girls Go Ska “Quédate," The Ska Contenders "What Does It Take" b/w "Siempre Conmigo," The Skapones "Rude Boy Rude Girl" b/w "Skapones A Go Go (Live)"

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

• Producer/musician Eric Abbey's rotating musical collective Detroit Riddim Crew has released its excellent fourth single "Fight for Your Rights" b/w "Fallen Down" (7" vinyl single/digital, Abbey Productions, 2020); their previous release was a stellar split single with The Skapones (which I reviewed). "Fight for Your Rights" features Ja Fagen from JA on vocals, and is a spare reggae hymn of sorts, with the repeated lyric/mantra "Get up, step up and fight for your rights/Let's unite and be strong." Plus, there's a fierce toast by Mitchie, and a haunting melodica by Abbey floating over it all. The brighter reggae cut "Fallen Down" is equally determined in righting wrongs, and has the incredible Chrissy Morgan singing: "They said we all have to live together/Moving forward, forward forever/Deal with the suffering around me/There's always someone beside me/To fight, we must come together as one/But I'm fallen down/But I'm pushing back up...I won't give up!" With songs like these to help stiffen your resolve in the struggle for equality and justice, who can be against us? (If you're jonesing for some ska Xmas music, I also highly recommend Side A of the Detroit Riddim Crew and Friends LP!)

• Girls Go Ska, from Mexico City, have released a rather sweet and catchy traditional ska-leaning single titled “Quédate” ("Stay") that is available through streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music (there's also a music video). Even though the song is about being head over heels for someone ("You are the dream I want to dream/You are the kiss I want to feel"), there's some uncertainty about the outcome, despite the singer's convincing entreaties, giving the track a bit of a heartbreaking undertow. If you like what you hear, they've also issued two other digital singles this year: "La Distancia" and "Sin Sentido" ("Without Sense").

• Also hailing from Mexico City come The Ska Contenders with their debut single "What Does It Take" b/w "Siempre Conmigo" (7" vinyl single, Canana Records, 2020). The A side is a breezy rocksteady cut--though the vocals might be a bit melodramatic for some in terms of how their heavy longing is expressed--while "Siempre Conmigo" ("Always with Me") is a pleasant, vintage ska-sounding love song.

• The Skapones new single "Rude Boy Rude Girl" (7" vinyl single/CD single/digital, Cosa Nostra Records, 2020) is tailor-made to lift one's mood and lend some much-needed hope and joy during these crap plague times (it's an updated "pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and do the ska" morale-booster!). "Rude Boy Rude Girl" is a fantastic, super-upbeat, sing-along-to-the-chorus 2 Tone/calypso cut celebrating ska's sound, vision, and attitude ("White boy, black girl/2 Tone through and through/Dr. Martens, pork pie hats/Tonic suits and monkey boots/They do the ska/They do the rocksteady/Rude boy, rude girl get ready...Whatcha gonna do/When the ska takes hold of you?"). My wonderful former bandmate Pamela Anderson-Buckley of Rude Boy George provides steel drum-sounding keys, and Carlos Russell of Argentina's Malambo Ska contributes percussion. The flip is a version of The Skapones' terrific fourth single/theme song, "Skapones A Go Go (Live)." 

Duff Review: Detroit Riddim Crew "Do Something" b/w The Skapones "The Girl Inside"

Abbey Productions
7" picture sleeve single/digital
2020

(Review by Steve Shafer)

It's absolutely fitting that the boss new release from the Detroit Riddim Crew and The Skapones is a split single. Not only is this format a throwback to the DIY 1980s, the sounds captured within will remind one of that era in ska, too (if I told you that both songs are from one of Unicorn's Skankin' 'Round the World comps, and you didn't know better, you'd believe me). The Detroit Riddim Crew's  awesome "Do Something" is a heady mix of Gangster Fun (also from Detroit!) and The Toasters circa Skaboom!--and is a call to action to get involved (vote, volunteer, advocate) and change what's wrong in the world around you: "Get off the ground/Quit doing nothing/Put down the bacon/Get off your ass/Do something!" (A portion of the proceeds from this single will go to the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network.) The UK's Skapones are heavily 2 Tone-influenced (their singer Paul Willo, of course, wrote The Specials' biography and runs their fan site) and their poignant track "The Girl Inside" is about loving someone who's struggling with addiction and other demons, and the heartbreak of not being able to fix it for them: "I pray for your strength to find/The hell that you go through...The girl inside has no idea/Of why she keeps holding on to her fears/You're so far away from me/But come what may/I'll love you 'till my dying day." Hopefully, we'll see more of these kind of singles from Abbey Productions in the future!

+ + + +

Detroit Riddim Crew Release "Detroit Holiday Riddim" to Benefit Suck It Suicide

A group of Detroit musicians (including Eric Abbey of 1592, The Dirty Notion, and J. Navarro and the Traitors) calling themselves the Detroit Riddim Crew has released a terrific rocksteady cover of The Emotions' 1973 soul single "What Do the Lonely Do at Christmas" in support of Suck It Suicide, a Detroit-area non-profit whose mission is to prevent suicide through education, advocacy, and support; with a special interest in suicide survivors support and fundraising for families suffering from the loss of a loved one from suicide.

It's a melancholy tune and topic ("'Tis the season to be jolly/But how can I be when I have nobody/The yuletide carol doesn't make it better/Knowing that we won't be together"), but beautiful nonetheless.

To check out the tune and donate to this cause, check out the Detroit Riddim Crew's Bandcamp page.

+ + + +