Duff Review: Steady Social Club "Take One"

Self-released
LP/digital
2020

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Take One is the impressive debut album from Poland's first rocksteady act Steady Social Club, and is filled with really terrific original tunes and ace performances--all recorded live in the studio on analog gear in one take, warts and all, with no edits, overdubs, etc. (hence, the album title). It should be noted that Steady Social Club are not newcomers to the scene, as members hail from other Polish and (one) German ska groups (Vespa, The Bartenders, Real Cool Sound, Big Fat Mama, and Spartan Allstars). They joke that they're ska veterans, but older now, so they play slower (hah!). And this really is a late night, end-of-the-afterparty record, when people couple or uncouple, and don't necessarily make the best decisions (practically all of the songs on Take One are about falling in or extracting oneself from a romantic relationship). The rocksteady tempos are markedly (almost stubbornly) unhurried, giving the male and female singers (Wioletta Baran, Anna Teliczan, and Boris Borowski) plenty of time to do their thing, and the song arrangements are uncomplicated, yet completely appropriate and effective (the band is rounded out by Artur Grochowski on drums, percussions, and keyboards; Bartłomiej Kościański on bass, guitar, and keys; and Maciej Januchowski on guitar, keyboards, and vocals; the later two wrote all of the tracks here).

Top cuts here include "Let's Do Rocksteady," which has wonderful harmonizing and offbeat use of male falsetto ("Let's forget all the daily trouble/Now it's just you and me together/Hold me tight, till you feel my heartbeat/All the world can come back tomorrow"); the gorgeous ballad "Magic Feeling" (which, of course, is that of being in love); and the incredibly sultry tracks "Set Me Free" (who could resist this entreaty?) and the you're-headed-for-a fall "Slow Down." "You Kept Me Waiting" is more Harry J skinhead reggae than rocksteady and features really amazing Jerry Dammers-esque organ during the chorus (the singer knows he's not ever going to get what he wants, but still can't help himself: "I'll keep on waiting/Up through the night/I'll keep on waiting/Until the dawn/Why?"). "Friend or Foe" also is excellent dirty reggae about someone getting what they're owed in a Niney the Observer "Blood and Fire" kind of way ("I say one day/You gonna pay/And the lies you've said/Will be exposed!"). Perhaps the fiercest song on the album is "There's the Door" (I'm warning you/This game won't be played be no more/It is last chance for you to change/And otherwise there's the door")--you won't be able to resist singing along with the ominous "ohs" of the chorus.

Even though I'm getting killed on the shipping costs from Poland to the USA, I need Steady Social Club's Take One LP in my collection. If you're a fan of rocksteady, you'll want this album, too.

[Update: Since posting this review, I've learned that this LP will be available in the USA through Jump Up Records.]

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Duff Review: The Crombies "Dance Crazee"

Jump Up Records
2016
Deluxe CD Box/CD/Cassette
Artwork by CHema Skandal

(Review by Steve Shafer)

I've been hearing about how great The Crombies are--and waiting for this album to come out--for what's seemed like an eternity. So, it's a thrill/relief to report just how fantastic and enjoyable their debut Dance Crazee is! The Crombies' single-minded mission is to make rollicking, good-time 2 Tone music, whether they're covering vintage JA and late 70s UK ska, versioning songs that are a bit further afield, or creating new 2 Tone-like classics. And they succeed brilliantly! (Based on what they've captured in these recordings, The Crombies must be one hell of a good night out--come to NYC whenever you can!) So, put it on, crank it up, and be ready to sing along and move your feet!

Dance Crazee opens with a nod to The Toasters' "Frankenska," employing the same maniacal laughter over the first few measures of J.S. Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" during the intro to The Crombies' boss version of The Munsters' theme, which they've re-titled "Monster Ska." (The Forest Hillbillies also recorded a ska version of this song back in 1986 for Gaz's Rockin' Records.) This is followed by a rabble-rousing, knees-up take on Niney the Observer's dread vision of "Blood and Fire," re-recorded for Dance Crazee (this song also appeared on The Crombies' 2011 debut single along with "Mad at the World").

The lurking menace always present in Mike Park's vocals really comes through on the one Crombies original on the album, the bitter "It's Not You" ("Now as I walk along this place/I used to walk along with you/I smell the scent of your perfume...I double-take, but it's not you/It's not you"). The Crombies' take on Prince Buster's "Wash Wash" (which itself is a cover of Beasley Smith's and Haven Gillespie's 1949 pop-spiritual "That Lucky Old Sun"; fun fact--mod rhythm and blues fave Georgie Fame played keys on the 1964 Prince Buster recording of "Wash Wash") veers fantastically into blissful jump blues territory and sounds like something that wouldn't be out of place on More Specials (it's similar in vibe and spirit to "Enjoy Yourself"). "Mad at the World" is a repurposed 1998 Deal's Gone Bad fave (several Crombies were in DGB) about, if I can paraphrase Homer Simpson, alcohol being the cause of and solution to all of life's problems: "Can't drink enough to get my head right/Know what they say/Some win, some lose/Finish up to a brand new surprise/Movin' sidewalks, street lamps whirl/Spitting fire till I see your eyes/I'm mad at the world!"

The Crombies' defiant cover of The Clash's "English Civil War" (where Joe Strummer borrowed the American Civil War-era song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" to issue an anti-fascist warning in reaction to the rise of the National Front in the UK in the late 70s) was previously featured on the excellent and very essential The Clash Goes Jamaican double LP/digital compilation (Golden Singles Records, 2013), as well as a split single with the Green Room Rockers (who covered "Clampdown"). In The Crombies' hands, "The Prince" becomes a full-fledged ska song with a serious, danceable groove--that may top Madness' awkward, herky-jerky original! The Specials' Roddy Radiation adds his distinctive rockabilly ska guitar sound to his own composition of a fallen young woman, "Hey Little Rich Girl" (Roddy's also featured on "It's Not You").

Things shift dramatically with The Crombies' stellar reading of Billy Bragg's  "Levi Stubbs' Tears," a despondent tale of a woman perpetually down on her luck who sort of makes it through life with the music of The Four Tops giving her a measure of comfort (it's from Bragg's 1986 album Talking to the Taxman About Poetry). Their choice of this cover and their interpretation of it are the highlight of the album--and suggest many more great things to come. I wasn't that familiar with Toots and the Maytals' "It's You" before hearing it on this album; this great rendering is something you might expect from The Specials, circa 1979. The Crombies' party finishes with a sweet cover of Prince Buster's "Dance Cleopatra" that sounds like Gaz Mayall's Trojans with Dick Dale on lead guitar.

While The Crombies' Dance Crazee may not be revolutionary (it doesn't aim to be), it is filled with irresistibly fun and expertly (and lovingly) crafted 2 Tone ska that you'll want to listen to over and over. And, these days, everyone could use a little more upbeat, smile-inducing, "more life!" music in their lives.

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Duff Review: The Crombies "Blood and Fire" b/w "Mad at the World"

Jump Up Records
2011
7" vinyl single

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Chicago's 2 Tone-worshipping band The Crombies (fearlessly led by Mike Park, formerly of Deal's Gone Bad and Lord Mike's Dirty Calypsonians) party like it's 1979 and the past 30-odd years never happened (God knows there are probably vast stretches in there that we'd all like to forget!). While they are obviously 2 Tone fanatics, The Crombies are also huge supporters of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club, which is the reason why Walt Jabsco is decked out in a Fire kit. (While Park was in Deal's Gone Bad, they also wrote and recorded the song that is still played after every Fire goal.)

Side A of The Crombies' debut single contains Niney the Observer's dread apocalyptic/spliff-sparking classic "Blood & Fire" re-fashioned as if covered by a Too Much Pressure-era Selecter (and the results are knees-up fantastic). The flip is "Mad at the World," an old Mike Park-penned DGB tune from the late 90s that is run through the 2 Tone converter--and I have to say I much prefer this version to the original.

The Crombies have a long-player coming out this fall (on LP, CD, and cassette, even)--and, from listening to this, it promises to be a real stormer!

The Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A

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To stream The Crombies' "Blood and Fire," go to the Jump Up website and click on the track on the label's player.