Duff Review: Ska Singles Going Steady: Ska Jazz Messengers and Travelers All Stars

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

In the wake of their incredible 2020 Introspección LP (which I reviewed here), Venezuela's Ska Jazz Messengers have released a sweet early reggae version (via Lloyd Charmers) of Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions' "It's Alright" b/w their own song "Aunque Todo No Esté Bien," which translates to: "even if everything is not alright" (7" vinyl picture sleeve single/digital, Liquidator Music, 2021; ska fans in the US can order the 45 and other Liquidator releases through Beat Surrender Records in Portland, OR).

"It's Alright" was, of course, featured in the Pixar movie Soul (and was performed by Jon Batiste) and follows a string of great SJM covers of pop tracks by Pharrell Williams ("Happy"), Bruno Mars/CeeLo Green ("Forget You"), and Carole King ("It's Too Late").

+ + + +

Mexico's Travelers All Stars' new single "Love in the Stars" b/w "Weekend Lover" (7" vinyl picture sleeve single/digital, Chez Nobody Records, 2022) is another fantastic set of luminous, organ-drenched, instrumental skinhead reggae cuts (read my review of their "Reggae Gordo for Days and Extra Days!" single here). Spin these space-age reggae tracks to brighten your mood (or get in the mood) or shake some action on the dance floor!

+ + + +

Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: Roddy Radiation with The Skabilly Rebels, Bailey Dee with The Kingston Affair, and Travelers All Stars!

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

The latest single from Chuck Wren's Jump Up Records, Roddy Radiation with The Skabilly Rebels' "Sea Cruise" b/w Bailey Dee and The Kingston Affair's "Sea of Love" (7" color vinyl single, Jump Up Records, 2021), is a throw-back of sorts that deftly underscores how Black American R&B and early rock 'n' roll directly influenced the birth of Jamaican ska music. Both "Sea Cruise" and "Sea of Love" were originally released in 1959--the same year that Laurel Aitken issued the Chris Blackwell-produced, R&B originals "Little Sheila" b/w "Boogie in my Bones"--and it makes complete sense that these marvelous ska covers by Roddy Radiation and The Skabilly Rebels and Bailey Dee and The Kingston Affair work so well, since these are from that peculiar time when the border between the established genre and its about-to-be-born descendant was blurred. For anyone who's a proud, card-carrying member of Gen X, it's likely that your introduction to Frankie Ford's 1959 rock 'n' roll hit "Sea Cruise" (written by Huey "Piano" Smith) came via Rico's cover of it on his wonderful 1980 2 Tone single (though according to 2-Tone.info, he's not backed by The Specials, despite the common misperception otherwise). This terrific version (has Roddy ever sounded happier?) comes from Roddy & The Skabilly's 2016 CD EP Fallen Angel, which also had been featured on a Jump Up freebie comp that was given out through mail-order. And most ska and reggae fans know likely Phil Phillip's classic (and only) hit "Sea of Love" via The Heptones' version. This marvelous take is by the awesome Chicago retro rock 'n' roll singer Bailey Dee, who is backed by The Kingston Affair, which features members of Deals Gone Bad, (who are, of course, referencing the original name of Neol Davies song recorded with drummer John Bradbury and t-bone player Barry Jones which became The Selecter's "The Selecter" and was released on the flip side of The Specials' "Gangster" single). If that rock thing doesn't work out for Ms. Dee, she certainly has a future in ska. This record comes in a variety of cool colors--mine is white--but whichever shade suits your fancy, just don't miss out on this top notch single. 

If you were wise enough to have snagged a copy of Happy People Records' Rudies All Around, Volume 1 comp a few years ago (read my review of it here), you would have been introduced to the amazing, keyboard-centric original early reggae from Mexico's Travelers All Stars. When you crack open the cellophane on their latest single Reggae Gordo for Days and Extra Days! (Orange vinyl picture sleeve single, Chez Nobody Records, 2020; both tracks were mixed and mastered by Roger Rivas), you'll find a small sticker with this quote from my favorite gutter poet Charles Bukowski: "And when nobody wakes you up in the morning, and when nobody waits for your at night, and when you can do whatever you want. What do you call it, Freedom or Loneliness?" The Travelers All Stars' A side answers that question--it's a sprightly, Harry J-styled instrumental skinhead reggae cut called "Sweet Loneliness" (the kind you only can find moon-hopping in space or in pandemic era lockdowns?). The more urgent "Space Invaders"--more and more aliens keep descending from the sky!--pays tribute to that blockbuster late-'70s arcade game (featured on the single's back cover) that swallowed up a lot of my brother's quarters and time back in the day. This single's title translates to (and promises) "heavy reggae..." and the tracks certainly deliver. This great 45 is available in the USA through Jump Up and can also be ordered from Chez Nobody via Bandcamp (a die-cut arcade version of the sleeve is available that also comes with a patch and enamel pin!).

+ + + +

Duff Review: Various Artists "Rudies All Around, Volume 1"

Happy People Records
CD/digital/LP
2018

(Review by Steve Shafer)

While Sean Flowerdew compiled Rudies All Around, Volume 1--a truly ace survey of current international ska acts--as a means to help promote and support his very worthy ongoing enterprise/labor of ska love, the London International Ska Festival (2019's edition is slated to feature Georgie Fame, Misty in Roots, Keith and Tex, Rudy Mills, The Steady 45s, Chris Murray, King Zepha, Masons Arms, Le Birrette, Erin Bardwell Collective, The Indecision, and many more to be announced over the coming months)--ska fans have the added benefit of encountering/being turned onto a host of incredible bands with minimal effort.

As with most carefully selected comps (and Flowerdew is particularly plugged into the global scene), there's a pretty wide variety of ska styles represented on Rudies All Around, Volume 1, which ensures that most listeners will find something to please them (though there's not much ska-punk--which is okay by me). On the traditional ska tip, things kick off with New Zealand's Atushi and The Moisties' "A Sound Of The Ska," which seems like it's been delivered to us in the present via a time machine from JA in 1964. Italy's all-female Le Birrette showcase their fantastic Deltones-y ska on "Mr A." Channeling Dr. Ring Ding, Masons Arms' "Von Vorn" is an incredible, amped-up Spirit of '69 skinhead reggae track in German. Mexico's Travelers Allstars' "Learned Lesson" is a great Jackie Mittoo-like instrumental, while Argentinians Los Aggrotones tread on great Western reggae territory with "Riding to Sonora." Italy's Uppertones joined by American Aggrolite Jesse Wagner do a fun rendition of the 1950's novelty song "El Cumpari," and the legendary and late Rico Rodriquez is featured on Pama International meets Manasseh's excellent futuristic sci-fi (via the 1970s) "Disobedient Dub" (from their Trojan Sessions in Dub album).

For those looking for 2 Tone/modern ska sounds, there's loads to like here. Ireland's Bionic Rats' phenomenally catchy "No Bottles No Milk" is about trying to get by in life with what (little) you've got (had to look up a lot of Irish slang to completely understand this one). Phoenix City All-stars' extraordinary dubby and haunted version of The Clash's "London Calling" drives home how the imagined dystopian/fascist/post-apocalyptic future of the original is closer to being realized than ever (I can't wait to hear the rest of the album this comes from, Clash Version Rockers!). "When It Rains" from the amazing Lions (whose members include Alex Desert and Deston Berry of Hepcat) is about how America's legacy of slavery continues to play out in all sorts of horrifically racist ways (and comes from their superb Soul Riot album--read our review of it). South Korea's The Rulerz's "Angels With Dirty Faces" may remind one of Euro-ska of the early 1990s. Capone and the Bullets (Scotland) turn in a great, deranged ska cover of Kraftwerk's "Das Model" (and emphasize the predatory creepiness of its lyrics), while The Scotch Bonnets (USA) transform The Ramones' punk anthem "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" into a mellow(er), but still very spirited rocksteady track. Dan P and The Bricks (USA) raucous and infectious "The Show" is about becoming an obsessive ska fan/musician. Italy's Miserable Man's broken-hearted acoustic-y/campfire ska song  "Heart in a Fire" is offbeat and completely winning. One of our favorite earworm cuts on the comp comes from Canada: King Kong 4's phenomenal "Profile of a New Elite" (think late '70s Elvis Costello meets The Specials), a cheery, but dark tale that points out how racists/fascists aren't born but raised.

Really, every song on Rudies All Around, Volume 1 is top-quality and I was introduced to a slew of bands that I had never heard from before. So, mission accomplished!

+ + + +