Duff Review: Various Artists: "Staring at the Rude Boys: The British Ska Revival (1979-1989)"

Pressure Drop/Cherry Red Records
3xCD
2021

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Named after one of the greatest non-ska tributes to the scene (by The Ruts, of course, who also appear on this comp backing Laurel Aitken), Pressure Drop/Cherry Red's Staring at the Rude Boys: The British Ska Revival (1979-1989) does a superb job of documenting the UK ska scene from the rise of 2 Tone through the "New Ska" scene that emerged in its wake in the latter half of the 1980s and was promoted by Unicorn Records (which coined the "New Ska" moniker), Staccato, and Gaz's Rockin' Records. This compilation presents 69 tracks over three CDs--with mostly excellent liner notes on each song/band (though there's a cringeworthy error in the Laurel Aitken/Potato 5 entry)--and while the 2 Tone and New Ska cuts are terrific (if not already featured on many other likeminded comps), the real treasure here are the dozens upon dozens of cuts from lesser-known, obscure, and even one-off novelty tracks that capitalized on/took a bit of the piss out of 2 Tone (see The Charlie Parkas' "Ballad of Robin Hood" and Max Headroom & the Car "Parks'" "Don't Panic"). Some of these non-2 Tone songs are more rough than ready, but the majority are good to great, and many of the original records now nearly impossible to find or quite pricey. Even though I'm a long-time fan/collector of UK ska from this decade, a surprising number of these songs are new to me, and this compilation fills in a big gap in my knowledge and collection (and may do the same for you, too). 

With its quality control so high, it's hard to go wrong when selecting 2 Tone tracks for inclusion, and the songs collected here are mostly deeper cuts (such as The Specials' "Little Bitch," Madness' "Bed and Breakfast Man," Bad Manners' "Inner London Violence"; and I'm particularly pleased with the choices of The Selecter's "Street Feeling" and The Beat's "Whine & Grine/Stand Down Margaret"). JA ska legends Rico, Desmond Dekker, and Laurel Aitken who were involved with or active during the 2 Tone-era are well-represented (with "Sea Cruise," "Rude Boy Train," and "Big Fat Man" respectively), as are Judge Dread (with the atypically non-slack "Ska Fever," where he's backed by The Cimarons) and Arthur Kay (an original '60s-era mod and musician who recorded with Rico and appeared on many Trojan releases; his "Play My Record" is included here). 

Among the lesser-known 2 Tone-era cuts are real gems from Ded Byrds ("Rich and Nasty"), Rockers Express ("Phoenix City"), new wavers Graduate (many know that this band featured future Tears for Fears-ers Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, and their Elvis Costello/Madness pastiche "Elvis Should Play Ska" is irresistible), The Akrylykz ("Spiderman," with future Fine Young Cannibal Roland Gift, of course), The A.T.'s ("One More for the Road"), The AK Band ("Pink Slippers"), the pre-Ska-dows Sax Maniax ("Never Gonna Lose Me"), Case ("Oh"--this act featured Neil Pyzer, who would go on to Spear of Destiny, and more recently serve as producer, songwriter, and member of Pauline Black and Gaps Hendrickson-led version of The Selecter), Plastic Gangsters AKA oi band the 4-Skins ("Plastic Gangsters ("I Could Be So Good for You)"), new waver Kim Wilde ("2-6-5-8-0"), the Dublin-based Resistors ("Jeanie"), and The Ska-dows ("Ska'd for Life"--for some reason, back in the late '80s I failed to pick up the 1988 reissue of their only LP, but like them so much that I just tracked a copy down now on Discogs). Interestingly, some of the best tracks also come from moonlighting mod bands--The Merton Parkas ("Give It To Me Now") and The Lambrettas ("Poison Ivy"). 

The last two-thirds of disc three spotlight many of the incredible mid-to-late '80s New Ska bands, including Laurel Aitken & the Potato 5 ("Mad About You"), Burial ("Sheila"), Buster's Allstars ("Skinhead Luv-A-Fair"), King Hammond ("King Hammond Shuffle"), Mark Foggo's Skasters ("Skadansk"), The Hotknives ("Dave and Mary"), Maroon Town ("Pound to the Dollar"), The Loafers ("The Undertaker"--their keyboardist Sean Flowerdew would go on to organize dozen of London International Ska Festivals, play in Special Beat, form Pama International, and create Happy People Records), The Deltones ("Stay Where You Are"), The Riffs ("Blind Date"), and others (what, no Trojans?). If you're not already familiar with these New Ska acts, get ready to track down many more releases--they issued a ton of essential records within the span of a few years.

Overall, you'd be hard pressed to find a better compilation that attempts to represent this key decade in British ska than Staring at the Rude Boys.

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I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Kevin Flowerdew's recently released The Ska Librarian's 2 Tone Time Machine, which makes a stellar companion piece to Staring at the Rude Boys. Flowerdew's first skazine Rude began publishing in 1989, right at the tail end of the New Ska period, and ran through 1996, when he switched its name to Do the Dog Skazine to match the record label he launched (both continue to this day). With The Ska Librarian's 2 Tone Time Machine, Flowerdew covers the UK and international ska scenes as if he had been producing Rude from 1979 through 1988. Unsurprisingly, there's a fair amount of overlap between the bands featured on Staring at the Rude Boys and those that Flowerdew writes about in The Ska Librarian's 2 Tone Time Machine--and he provides some really helpful context and history that will only deepen your enjoyment and appreciation of this comp. 

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Shots in the Dark: The Toasters' "Frankenska"

The Toasters' Frankenska (Unicorn Records, 1990)
with cover art by Steve Friel.

Editor's note: Shots in the Dark spotlights so-called Third-Wave ska releases that should have been massive hits on the scene but, due to bad timing, poor luck, or a fickle record-buying public, were lost in the fray.

(Review by Steve Shafer)

The Toasters’ first live album Frankenska was recorded in the summer of 1989 during the band’s maiden (and mostly underwhelming) tour of the UK--and ended up documenting the brilliant core of the band that was forging on despite still reeling from the surprise departure of their frontmen the Unity 2 just months previously (trombonist Ann Hellandsjo and alto saxophonist Marcel Reginatto also left in their wake). Less than a year earlier, The Toasters had released their fantastic second album, Thrill Me Up, which had reached #54 on the CMJ college radio charts and was starting to generate lots of press and industry attention, and they were headlining sold out shows all over the country. Literally and figuratively, The Toasters were going places fast. So, the Unity 2's unexpected exit (they had been lured away by Warner Bros. to capitalize on the blink-and-you-missed-it hip-hop/reggae craze of 1989-1990) threatened to destroy all that The Toasters had accomplished up until that point. When we asked about this episode, Toasters’ founder, guitarist, and primary songwriter Rob “Bucket” Hingley told us that the Unity 2 had "cold-cocked" the rest of The Toasters and "disrupted the unit intensely."

Sean “Cavo” Dinsmore recently explained to The Duff Guide to Ska why he and Lionel “Nene” Bernard left The Toasters: “The simple answer is that we weren’t happy just being in a ska band anymore. We were much more into dancehall and hip hop by that time. We had already recorded “Shirlee” for a WB compilation (Funky Reggae Crew) as Unity 2 and had been offered record deals from both Island and WB. After we came off the last cross-country tour [with The Toasters], we played a sold-out show at The Ritz and there was an A and R guy there from Island. In the dressing room we were like, ‘What do you think?’ And he said, ‘I love it, but I only want to sign you two, not the whole band.’ After everything else that had been happening, it seemed like a sign from God. Of course, we still wrestled with it for a while, but it was inevitable. It was bittersweet for sure...No regrets at all, except I wish we had done the last few gigs that were on the schedule. We kind of left them in a tight spot. But it was so difficult because they were so clearly upset by it. Lionel and I just thought the road would be a nightmare for all of us if we went. Buck was very pragmatic and just wanted their asses covered, fair enough. But we couldn’t.”

A June 6, 1988 feature on The Toasters in New York Magazine, while Thrill Me Up was being
recorded (note that they refer to it by its working title at the time, Franken-Ska).

Indeed, The Toasters’ decision to embark on a UK tour and appear at the second London International Ska Festival was a Hail Mary of sorts, to shake off the Unity 2’s body blow and keep the band’s momentum going during a transitional period when they could just have easily broken up.

During a respite on that 1989 UK tour, Bucket told George Marshall of Scotland’s indispensable Zoot skazine, “We’ve been playing venues in town where people don’t even know who we are. We get a lot of letters from Europe, but I suppose they are just isolated pockets of fans...The ska scene’s further developed and not so underground in the States. Ska’s happening in the U.S. and it’s not just talk. It’s bigger now that it was during 2 Tone. We played in front of 1,000 people in Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco when we toured, and in New York we had 2,000 people in The Ritz [at a show that included The NY Citizens and Bim Skala Bim].” In a recent interview with The Duff Guide to Ska, Bucket added, “I was surprised how quickly the ska scene had deteriorated in the UK after the zenith of 2 Tone. Some of the audiences were light indeed, but then again most people had never heard of us and some wouldn't come and see us because we were ‘Yanks.’”

Notably, this tour and live album marked the first and temporary appearance of singer/toaster Coolie Ranx in The Toasters’ line-up (which at the time consisted of Jonathan McCain on drums, Greg Grinnell--who worked with the Unity 2 on their What Is It, Yo? debut album--on bass, John Dugan on tenor sax, Steve “Hex” LaForge on keys, Vince Fossitt of Buffalo, NY’s The Great Train Robbery on alto sax, and Buck on guitar and vocals). Bucket recently recounted how he originally encountered Coolie back in 1989: “Coolie was living in Brooklyn at that time. I had discovered him when we were auditioning singers, one of whom had been Andre from Mephiskapheles, by the way. A friend from S.O.B.’s passed me a copy of this 12” single “Roughneck,” which sounded to me like a much more energized version of Shinehead. So, I went out to Crown Heights and tracked him down, much to the amusement of the Yardie drug dealers who lived in his building. They were impressed by the wraparound shades, black bomber jacket, and Kangol...When I met Coolie, I had an all-black minivan with tinted windows. Whenever I showed up at Coolie’s place--which was actually in Bushwick now that I think about it--which was deep in the hood back in those days, the Jamaican Yardies were at first suspicious because they thought I was a Fed. After that, they took a shine to me, as there weren’t that many white folks in that neighbourhood at that pre-hipster epoch.”

The Toasters live in London on June 12, 1989:
Bucket, Coolie Ranx, and John Dugan (left to right).

“Before I decided to sign on with The Toasters, I was a dancehall artist,” Coolie told The Duff Guide to Ska. “I put out a few songs and had already traveled to the UK when I was introduced to The Toasters by Catherine Tobias. She was managing Shinehead at the time, but they parted company. At the time, my song "Roughneck" was playing on the urban music stations and she heard the similarities between Shinehead and myself. She sought me out and proposed management of me. She said The Toasters had lost their two frontmen and suggested I audition and do a small run with them to Europe for me to gain stage experience (she wasn't aware of my history of opening up for most of the reggae acts that came from Jamaica to do stage shows). I had just returned from England singing in Saxon Sound when all of this happened upon me.”

Coolie continued, “At the time, I was a dancehall artist doing ska and had no intention of staying in the scene. It was meant to be as a one-off tour with them and I would resume my work in dancehall. It really was culture shock for me.” He would not resume his role as the official and wildly popular front man of The Toasters until a few years later (Cashew Miles and then Pablo Wright were the interim singers/toasters for the band who appeared on This Gun for Hire and New York Fever). “I had just returned from living in London from 1991-1993. I was walking in New York City when I ran into [Toasters drummer] Jonathan McCain’s girlfriend. She said he was back in The Toasters and they were playing that night. I went to check them out the show--this was in 1993. Buck spotted me in the audience with my friend Natty and from the stage he began shouting out to me and reminding me of past shows we did. After the show, he came over and said he wanted to catch up and have a drink later in the week. We met for a drink at Blanche's and there he proposed I rejoin the band.”

The London International Ska Fest II flyer that was included in
every album mail ordered from Unicorn at the time.

Both the second London International Ska Festival (held at The Sir George Robey in Finsbury Park, London on May 27-29, 1989 with Laurel Aitken, The Trojans, The Deltones, Potato 5, The Toasters, Skaos, Floyd Lloyd, Skaos, The Hotknives, The Busters, The Braces, The Ska-dows, Mr. Review, Les Frelons, Spy Club, Arthur Kay’s Originals, and The Skandal on the bill) and the Frankenska recording at the Town and Country II in Islington, London on June 12, 1989 had been organized by Unicorn Record’s label head Mark Johnson, while the other Toasters’ dates around the UK were booked by RPM, which was run by several ex-members of 2 Tone act The Bodysnatchers. While George Marshall opined in Zoot that The Toasters’ performance wasn’t their best at the London ska fest, there’s no question that the band had all cylinders firing for the Frankenska recording.

While the Frankenska set list is loaded with classic Toasters tunes from Recriminations through Thrill Me Up, it also featured a small preview of the band’s next album in the form of “One Track Mind” (this one’s better than the studio version). Coolie confidently takes the lead vocals on “Go Girl,” “Don’t Blame Me,” and “Thrill Me Up” (and delivers some amazing toasting on “Run Rudy Run”), as if he had been in the band forever instead of a few months. The versions of “Ska Killers,” “East Side Beat” (check out Greg Grinnell’s hilarious Beastie Boys-like rap--swapping out the one usually done by Cavo during an instrumental break in the song: “I live on the outskirts of a place--East Flatbush/Hot like Texas and twice as dangerous/Every second of my life was a thrill/For a walk on the wild side, there’s a place--Brownsville/It’s hard to chill when they turn up the heat/Come on boys, do the East Side Beat…”), and “Pool Shark” are positively scorching. Even The Toasters’ roadie for that tour Steven “Big Steve” Carroll is heard from--he shouts “Matt Davis, special agent” throughout the album opener. I was fortunate enough to catch The Toasters several times in NYC in 1988 and 1989--those gigs continue to be some of the most amazing live shows I’ve ever experienced--and despite the unfortunate departure of some of the crew, the remaining Toasters more than hold their own on Frankenska; this performance rates amongst the Thrill Me Up-era band’s best. George Marshall concurred in his review of Frankenska for Zoot: “Despite a below par performance at Ska Fest II, The Toasters did enough on their European tour to make this LP worthwhile. It benefits from concentrating on their earlier material like ‘Matt Davis,’ ‘East Side Beat,’ and ‘Weekend in L.A.,’ making it a fans’ album with all three sure to get you dancing away in the safety of your bedroom. There’s even a giveaway poster for freebie freaks.”

Also on the bill that evening with The Toasters at the Town and Country II were the Potato 5 and The Deltones. A recording of the Potato 5’s fantastic performance that night was released as Five Alive on Unicorn Records and captured incredible tracks like “Spit ‘n’ Polish” and “Stopped by a Cop” that the band didn’t have a chance to record in the studio before breaking up late in 1989, after a difficult US tour (with gigs that included Bim Skala Bim and The Donkey Show). Bucket recalled that “Potato 5 was an awesome band. They had recorded that classic album with Laurel Aitken and some of their tunes like “Western Special” were excellent. We got on well with them and they had a relaxed vibe. Deltones were a bit shambolic, but they had great singers (Dill) and those shows we played with them knocking around in South East London were a lot of fun.”

A large free poster inside every LP!

By taking a big risk on this tour, The Toasters’ fortune finally changed for the better, as the band’s absolutely terrific live show was recorded for posterity, the tour put them on the radar overseas (and led to regular gigs throughout Europe and beyond from that point on to the present day), and on their return to the States, they connected with a major league domestic booking agency (which allowed The Toasters to further develop the US ska touring circuit and support all of local ska scene across the country--and lay the groundwork that would kick-start the massive, mid-’90s US ska revival). “As it turned out, that gamble paid off handsomely, as it raised the profile of the band immensely and we were able to tour in Europe consistently after that smash debut,” Bucket assessed. “It was a hot band and we blew most of the European groups away. Upon our return to the USA, we were promptly signed to Falk and Morrow booking, which was a huge agency. That helped cement the US touring and, hey presto, we were now an international touring act.”

The only bum notes about this release are that The Toasters never received any royalties for Frankenska (or any other Unicorn release of theirs, including Pool Shark and the Naked City comp) and the album was never issued domestically in the US. In the early 1990s, Unicorn’s Mark Johnson reportedly fled the UK for Turkey (and later Thailand) to escape the tax man and, in the process, absconded with what he owed to all the label’s bands. But given The Toasters’ previous experiences with other imprints and distributors who ripped them off or went belly up throughout the 1980s, it came as no shock(er) at all.

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Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: The Toasters "Skaboom!" Reissue

The "Skaboom" LP and cassette covers with the re-worked
original art by Bob Fingerman.

(Review by Steve Shafer)

The Toasters Skaboom! (blue heavyweight vinyl/cassette, Jump Up Records/Megalith Records, 2016 reissue; originally released in the USA in 1987 on Moving Target/Celluloid and in a slightly altered form in the UK on Unicorn as Pool Shark): While The Toasters' 1987 debut LP wasn't the first American ska album out of the gate (bands like Chicago's Heavy Manners, Berkeley's The Uptones, and Boston's Bim Skala Bim beat them to the punch), Skaboom! was arguably the most influential record in the development/history of American ska--not only on its many musical merits, but because The Toasters' efforts to promote it helped lay the DIY foundation for the massive ska revival that hit the USA less than a decade later.

By 1987, The Toasters' brand of ska had evolved from the quirky, heavily New Wave-influenced ska of 1985's Recriminations EP to the brash and gritty, New York-centric in your face/"I'm walking here!" modern ska of Skaboom! that became their enduring, signature sound. And the band had metastasized into a "Warriors"-size gang; the only holdovers from the Recriminations era were Robert "Bucket" Hingley on guitar (the British expat zealously determined to popularize ska in America), Steve "Hex" LaForge on keys, and Gary Eye on percussion--augmented by The Unity Two, Sean "Cavo" Dinsmore and Lionel "Nene" Bernard sharing vocals with Bucket, Brian Emerich on bass, Jonathan McCain on drums, Marcel Reginato on alto sax, John Dugan on tenor sax, Greg Grinnell on cornet, and Anne Hellandsjo on trombone. The Toasters' (in)famous residency at CBGBs (the hardcore scene spilled over into the ska scene and with it came a fair amount of violence that led Hilly Kristal to ban ska from CBs for a time) and their non-stop gigging at other renown NYC clubs like Danceteria helped whip the band into a formidable live act (amongst the best I've ever seen).

Not only did The Toasters have the live chops (and then some), they had the tunes, too--written by Bucket, Dinsmore, and LaForge. Skaboom! is a brilliant collection of songs from start to finish--"Talk is Cheap," "Pool Shark," "Weekend in LA," "Shocker," "East Side Beat," "ABCs," "Manipulator," "Mr. Trouble," "Now or Never," and more--most of which are still included in The Toasters' live set 30 years later (you can read our in-depth look at some of these tracks here). Indeed, hearing this album for the first time in 1987, I remember being struck how original and fully-formed it all was--Skaboom! wasn't a 2 Tone clone, but its very own amazing thing.

Since Bucket's still fledgling Moon Records wasn't in a position to press and distribute Skaboom! (which they had produced themselves--hence, the fairly rudimentary recording), they struck up a deal with the French/American NYC-based independent label Celluloid to have the album released on their rock/reggae imprint Moving Target (which had issued records from Sly and Robbie, Yellowman, Dennis Bovell, and The Fleshtones). As a result, Skaboom! was distributed far and wide across the USA (and Unicorn did a decent job with Pool Shark in England, with some copies making their way over to the continent via mail order), so The Toasters decided to go for broke, quit their day jobs, and devote themselves to the band full-time--embarking on their first national tour in support of the album (the "Toast on the Coast" tour, naturally).

In the late 80s, ska music pretty much was limited to parochial underground scenes in major cities like NYC, Boston, DC, Chicago, San Francisco, and LA, which were fairly isolated from each other in those pre-internet days (I had no idea that there were any other ska bands from California apart from Fishbone and The Untouchables until hearing Moon Records' Ska Face: An All American Ska Compilation in 1988). Notably, The Toasters' "Toast on the Coast" tour helped forge the first ska touring network (which many bands would later follow); started to connect all of the disjointed regional ska scenes; and inspired numerous ska bands to form in their wake (which would reach critical mass in the mid-to-late 1990s with the so-called Third Wave of ska).

American fans converted to ska through 2 Tone (which many people here discovered long after it was over in the UK) and/or Fishbone's EP and The UTs' Wild Child apparently were primed and ravenous for more new, homegrown ska music. As a result, Moving Target/Celluloid sold upwards of 25,000 copies of the Skaboom! LP, CD, and cassette (though royalties on Skaboom! were never paid to the band before Celluloid went bankrupt right after the release of Thrill Me Up on Celluloid's new ska imprint for The Toasters, Skaloid)--and the album made it to a very respectable #54 spot on the CMJ college radio charts. In addition, Skaboom!/Pool Shark was well-received by the post-2 Tone UK scene that had emerged in the mid-to-late 80s around such extraordinary acts as Laurel Aitken, Derrick Morgan, The Trojans, Potato 5, The Deltones, The Hotknives, The Loafers, Maroon Town, The Riffs, Bad Manners, Judge Dread, and others. Scotland's phenomenal Zoot skazine declared The Toasters' Skaboom! to be "the best thing to come out of America since sliced bread" (a compliment) and the band eventually made it over to tour the UK in 1989 (where they recorded the live album Frankenska for Unicorn).

Three decades later, it's easy to take Skaboom! for granted (particularly in light of all of the great Toasters records that followed it), but one cannot overstate the significance of this release. In many ways, Skaboom! was the catalyst for much, if not all, of what transpired in American ska for years to come. Without it, the burgeoning U.S. ska scene might have gone bust a decade sooner...

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To read more about The Toasters' history and their Thrill Me Up, This Gun for Hire, and New York Fever albums, click here.

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2016 Cassette Store Day @ Jump Up Records with Releases from The Toasters, King Stitt, Reggae Workers of the World, Danny Rebel, Rude Guest, Indonesian Ska, and an Incredible CSD Event in Chicago!

Saturday, October 8, 2016 is Cassette Store Day (see a list of participating stores here) and Jump Up Records is releasing a slew of really interesting titles to help celebrate the recent resurgence of this format (and I'll be damned if I haven't started collecting cassettes again--just last week I picked up used copies of The Scofflaws debut on Moon, as well as Derrick Morgan's Tougher Than Tough and The Deltones' Oddball Boy, both of which were licensed to ROIR by Unicorn Records; and I've also fed my cassette collecting beast by mail ordering some great new cassettes from Jump Up, such as The Crombies Dance Crazee, The Specialized Dance Crazy comp, The Brooklyn Attractors' The Move, NST and The Soul Sauce's Heaven is Here/Song for Rico, and The Specials Live at the Lyceum).

Here's what Jump Up is releasing on CSD 2016:

The Toasters Skaboom: This is first time this classic and hugely influential American ska album has been re-issued on cassette (with cool, reworked artwork) since Skaloid/Moving Target/Celluloid originally released it in 1987.

King Stitt Cool and Copasetic Selector Set: Recorded live in 2002 at the Legend of Ska concerts in Toronto, Canada, this set features Stitt chatting over foundational ska riddims with Ska Nick The Trojan at the controls.

Reggae Workers of the World Reggae Workers of the World: For your listening pleasure, Jesse Wagner of The Aggrolites, Vic Ruggiero of The Slackers, and Nico Leonard of Moon Invaders and Caroloregians got together and recorded twelve new tunes of old school reggay at Pum Pum Hotel Studios in Belgium.

Danny Rebel Boombox Sessions: Re-released for CSD, this is rough and ready acoustic reggae (for fans of Chris Murray, Bob Marley, and Toots and Maytals) recorded live and direct to an old boombox by Canadian Danny Rebel.

Rude Guest Lost Chicago Ska 1982-1993: This Chi-town band kept 2 Tone ska alive in the USA in the 80s and this release compiles all 16 songs they recorded and issued on a series of limited-edition cassettes back in the day.

Various Artists Soundclash Volume 1: This is a collection of Indonesian ska imported from Jakarta that features three of that scene's top bands--D”Jenks, James Steady, and The Ska Banton--playing traditional jazz ska, skinhead reggae, and modern ska!

All of the aforementioned titles can be found at participating CSD retailers or pre-ordered from Jump Up. 

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Also, if you're in the Chicago area on Saturday, October 8, 2016, be sure to check out this really extraordinary Jump Up Cassette Store Day event at Logan Hardware Records from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm with acoustic performances from Vic Ruggiero and Jesse Wagner, and King Tony, a live cassette DJ set with Chuck Wren, a CHema Skandal poster exhibition and cassette painting(!), plus Ska Brewing tasting and Dark Matter coffee! 

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Duff Review: Sammy Buzz "The Buzzman Cometh"

Self-released
CD
2016

(Review by Steve Shafer)

King Hammond musical collaborator Sammy Buzz (nee Wilson), who should be familiar to devoted readers of The Duff Guide to Ska (I reviewed his I'm Buzzin' EP in late 2012--and two of those tracks, "Cigarettes" and "I'm Buzzin'" are reprised here), has just released his truly marvelous debut album, The Buzzman Cometh, which features some seriously fun and memorable tracks about himself, women, ska-related matters, and just trying to make your way through life with your body and spirit intact.

Buzz's modern ska reminds this reviewer of the brilliant sounds created in the late 80s UK ska scene (Laurel Aitken, Bad Manners, The Trojans, Potato 5, Maroon Town, The Loafers, King Hammond, The Riffs, The Deltones, etc.)--definitely post-2 Tone and greatly influenced by those bands (particularly The Beat and--even though they weren't 2 Tone--The Equators), but not quite classifiably Third Wave (or whatever has come to pass in the years since). However you categorize his ska, Sammy Buzz writes some exceptionally good tunes (which are expertly produced by Steve Crittal) that should not be missed.

The album begins ominously (a bell tolls for you) with the excellent, melodramatic, spaghetti Western-flavored "The Buzzman Cometh." "Maaga Gal" (maaga is Jamaican patois for skinny--I had to look it up) is the catchiest ska song you've ever heard about a singer's concern and love for his underweight (anorexic?) girlfriend ("She may be skin and bone/but she's my very own...She may be lacking in flesh/But she's the very best!"). "Ruff Ride Ruff" borrows Prince Buster's instantly recognizable "Rough Rider" bass line, but isn't the expected lewd track--it's about a good-for-nothing being thrown out of the house by his strict mom ("She's rougher that the carpet in me room/Tougher than the bristles pon the broom/She's rougher than my pet hedgehog/Rough like a flea-bitten dog...").

"Rude Boys and Rude Girls" is a fantastic earworm of ska tune that essentially asks that the ongoing battle of the sexes be left at the door--the gig is all about dancing and pleasure. "We 'ave Fe Flex" is another lovely catchy track that reiterates the perennial plea for love, peace, and understanding: "Love thy neighbor/And love thy enemy/Give thanks and blessings/that we were born free/Keep out of trouble/and live healthy/Just look at the world and see that/Time so hard/We have Fe Flex..." The gentle and hilarious tweak of the nose of ska record collectors who like to boast that, whatever the title, "I Got It On Vinyl" hits this vinyl-obsessive reviewer close to home, but it makes me love it all the more, since it's so on the money (the taunting "la, la, la, la, las" between all of the "I got it on vinyl" refrains is a nice touch!).

The singer is almost mowed down while trying to cross the street by a driver being chased by the police in the dubby "Mad Traffick." "I Need a Holiday," a frantic dancehall cut, describes the singer trying to soak up as much relaxation as possible on vacation, only to find it immediately dissipate upon return to reality. "Cigarettes" is a public service announcement with a ska beat, coughs, and cheesy, 70s-sounding keyboard lines, urging listeners to quit this pernicious, addictive habit before it's too late ("Cigarette, cigarette/It can cause your death"), and Sammy offers a few hair-raising examples of why one should quit: "I had a friend called Bernadette/who was addicted to a cigarette/She smoked all day/and in bed at night/until her bedroom, it catch alight/She's not with us anymore/Now's she's knocking on Heaven's door/A big fat lesson to all of you/give up the cigarette, it's overdue!"

"Boss Skinhead" is another great self-referential song in a musical genre full of them (Laurel Aitken, amongst others, is name-checked here), while "I'm Buzzin'" spells out Sammy Buzz's let-the-good-times-roll, can't-change-fate approach to life ("I'm buzzing'/but I'm not out of my mind/Don't need no complication/An easy life for me/Don't work, no botheration/Yeah, what will be will be"). It's a very nice slice of upbeat ska for when your troubles might be grinding you down. The future's not so bright in the cold, New Wave-ish, "1984"-type tale "Urban Citizen," which denounces governmental surveillance of its people.

In addition to the 12 songs on the album, there are two cool bonus tracks, the lost and broken-hearted "Standing Here Alone" (which says it all, really) and a sunny, unnamed instrumental track ("Nice It Up"?) that's guaranteed to improve your outlook, even on the darkest of days.

Sammy Buzz's The Buzzman Cometh is one of the best new ska albums I've listened to and enjoyed this year. You should make sure to hear it, too!

Support New Crowdfunded Albums from Ruts DC, The Meow Meows, and Crazy Baldhead!

Ruts DC in effect!

Given the current state of the music industry (don't get me started) and the habits of many music consumers (who either want to stream everything for pennies or "obtain" it all for free), it makes more and more sense for bands to seek a direct partnership with diehard fans (those who know that recorded music has value) in order to finance new albums for release.

Since I'm one of those people who loves and collects recorded music, I'm planning to support two new ska/reggae-related crowdfunding projects this year with Ruts DC, The Meow Meows, and Crazy Baldhead (and there will be others, I'm sure!).

Ruts DC, of course, arose out of the ashes of the phenomenal punk-reggae band The Ruts, after lead singer Malcolm Owen overdosed on heroin in 1980. Ruts DC opted to focus mostly on reggae and dub--releasing two albums in the early '80s: Animal Now and Rhythm Collision. (Ska fans should know that The Ruts backed Laurel Aitken on two singles and a tour in 1980.) The band then reformed in 2007 and released the AMAZING Rhythm Collision, Volume 2 (recorded by Mad Professor and mixed by Prince Fatty) in 2013 (check out a taste here). Ruts DC are back in the studio now recording Psychic Attack for release in May of 2016. The Ruts DC's Pledge Music campaign offers the Psychic Attack CD or LP (plus other merch) at all kinds of levels of support.

The Meow Meows (image a brilliant Specials/Bodysnatchers/Deltones hybrid!) will soon be recording their third album, which is slated for release in June 2016. (Read The Duff Guide to Ska reviews of their Somehow We Met album and their Friends on Benefits EP--both of which were produced by Prince Fatty.) The Meow Meows' Pledge Music campaign--with all sorts of crazy exclusives (like a disposable camera filled with pix of the band on the road and in the studio that may possibly include a shot of a band member's buttocks!)--offers options for support for fans of every economic class! (Plus 10% of of any profits made after they reach their goal will be donated to Shelter--the UK's biggest housing and homelessness charity).

Here's a terrific video to help promote the band's Pledge Music campaign that uses a stripped-down version of their anti-Cameron austerity track "Friends on Benefits."



Crazy Baldhead is one of the things that Agent Jay (Agent 99, Stubborn Allstars, Version City Rockers, etc.) does with a rotating cast of top ska musicians when he's not serving as guitarist for The Slackers, selecting tracks on the soundsystem, or backing Jamaican stars like Ken Boothe, Stranger Cole, Patsy Small, and Keith & Tex. His new album, The Stereo Prophecy and Electric Hymns, features guest vocals from Jess Wagner (The Aggrolites), Joey Steel (All Torn Up), Brukky (The Frightnrs), Maddie Ruthless (The Far East), and Todd Fausnacht (The Snails). You can support Crazy Baldhead's The Stereo Prophecy and Electric Hymns through his Big Tunes campaign.

Sample some Crazy Baldhead below, with the track "Come To Me" featuring Maddie Ruthless on vocals...


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By the way, if you're a fan of new wave, you might also be interested in crowdsourcing projects for Modern English and Gary Numan.

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Duff Review: The Meow Meows "Friends on Benefits" EP

Jump Up Records
2015
Limited Edition 7" single on orange vinyl

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Brighton, UK's ferociously good Meow Meows have followed-up their stellar debut album (read The Duff Guide to Ska's review of The Meow Meow's Somehow We Met debut album here) with the equally amazing, Prince Fatty-produced Friends on Benefits three-song vinyl EP.

While this overtly political and progressive band with a Specials meets Deltones sound continues its terrifically barbed criticism of Prime Minister David Cameron's conservative policies and their deleterious effect on everyday Britons on the wonderfully catchy title track, astute Americans on this side of the Atlantic with an ounce of empathy in their hearts will recognize the cruelty and shame intentionally inflicted by Republican politicians on people down on their luck who have no other choice but to go through the purposefully humiliating experience of relying on the (meager) benefits of the welfare state.

"Oh take a seat
Wait for your name
Wait for your number, await your fate
'Cause it's a waiting game

Don't show your hand
Don't show your pride
Just tick the boxes, lock your options
As you die inside

That plan you had
Where has it gone?
Lie down, get up, jump down
Stick out your hand, you scrounging scum

Would you smile if I gave you a hand?
A little something that would make you a man
Friends on benefits, you're selling this
Hear my nemesis, reaping all the benefits

Run a mile, gotta make new plans
Force a smile, gotta shake some hands
Friends with benefits
I'm getting it, check my blemishes
Keeping all the benefits"

And in these days of extraordinary economic inequality, with everything rigged to benefit only those at the top and its dearth of decent non-fast food/Walmart type jobs, those fortunate to find employment oftentimes are stuck in drone-like, dead end positions that deny people their hopes for their lives...

"And here I am
Chained to a desk
Pushing my pen around
How did my life become grotesque?
Ignore the hurt, squash down my dreams
Drown out the stats and facts, and tear them down with angry screams

What about all my plans, where've they gone?
Wake up, shut up, don't moan
Be grateful you've a job at all"

I'd be remiss if I also didn't point out the cheeky double-entendre at play here--friends with/on benefits--and the implication that a little physical companionship might just help keep the unemployed friend feeling human enough and give them the psychological strength to face another day on the dole!

The menacingly dark and haunting "London Road" may refer to the 2006 Ipswich serial killings of five sex workers (who earned their money along London Road) committed by forklift operator Steve Wright (who also lived on London Road). It takes a very sympathetic view of the sex workers' plight (and the circumstances and addictions that led them down this path)--during the bridge of the song, one of the women laments, "Hello? I'm lost, can you help me? I'm lost on London Road..." The final lyrics of the song urge the women to get away from the very real perils of that red light district (as well as that "life") before it's too late.

On "Tits and Hatred," the conservative tabloids come under The Meow Meows' spot-on and withering fire for preying on the very worst instincts in humanity to turn a profit (and serving a hateful, bigoted agenda)--with no concern of how this affects the people or the policies of the nation. (Implicit in this criticism is how the tabloids have abandoned their basic mission of accurately informing the public of events in the world around them and, in a system of checks and balances, serving as a watchdog/source of reliable information on governmental activities, so that the citizens of a nation can be fully informed, in order to effectively participate in the political process.)

"We're all going to hell
And you're welcome for the ride
My handcart's almost full
Because it's filled with national pride

So tell me the story
It better be gory
Or sex is implied

Some of my best friends are black
And that makes it OK
As long as it's not in my face
Don't mind if you are gay

But behind the curtains
Different versions
Give you away

More salacious allegations
Fear and loathing, immigration
Can we get some degradation
Titillation, desperation
We don't need no education
Add a little provocation
Accusations, defamation
Tits and hatred
Sell the papers

Romanians are swarming
And there's nothing we can do
I read it in the paper
So, it's definitely true

They're coming over here
Taking all our jobs
For minimum wage

And women when you're walking
Be cautious what you wear
It's not the rapist's fault
Because you need to take more care

And what about Page Three?
Oh, they have dignity
You're kidding yourself

More salacious allegations
Fear and loathing, immigration
Can we get some degradation
Titillation, desperation
We don't need no education
Add a little provocation
Accusations, defamation
Tits and hatred
Sell the papers
Tits and hatred"

Brighton's calling--and though the news may be bleak, we all need to hear the message.

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Duff Review: "Rhoda Dakar Sings The Bodysnatchers"

Pledge Music
2014
CD/LP/digital download
(The CD is also available to purchase through the London International Ska Festival website.)

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Of all the 2 Tone-era bands, The Bodysnatchers (2 Tone's only all-female act--and the only women in the late 70s UK ska scene apart from Pauline Black) were the ones who were criminally under-documented on vinyl during their relatively brief--but brilliant--existence, from late 1979 to 1981. Apart from two fantastic singles (a cover of Dandy Livingstone's "Let's Do Rocksteady" b/w "Ruder Than You," co-written by The Bodysnatchers and the band's friend Gaz Mayall in 1980; and the band's "Easy Life" b/w a cover of Bob Andy's "Too Experienced," also released in 1980) and an amazing live version of "Easy Life" included on the Dance Craze soundtrack (1981), The Bodysnatchers weren't able to keep it together long enough to record their debut album before fragmenting over how to move forward. One faction of The Bodysnatchers wanted to go pop (the majority of the band): Sarah Jane Owen, Stella Barker, Penny Leyton, and Miranda Joyce formed The Belle Stars, releasing a pop version of The Bodysnatchers' original "Hiawatha" as their first single (later, they had a massive hit with their cover of The Dixie Cups' "Iko Iko"--the song was originally written by James "Sugar Boy Crawford"--when it was featured on the 1988 "Rain Man" film soundtrack); after The Belle Stars' demise, Owen and Layton then joined The Deltones, another amazing all female UK ska act, in 1984. The remainder of The Bodysnatchers wanted to be more political--Ms. Dakar and Nicky Summers went on to work with The Special AKA, releasing the first Bodysnatcher song the band ever wrote, "The Boiler" (an extremely disturbing story of date rape, only meant to be listened to once, according to Jerry Dammers); Dakar then joined The Special AKA, singing and co-writing songs on their sole studio album (read my thoughts on that record here).

After two long, challenging, and apparently very unpleasant years recording The Special AKA's extraordinary In the Studio (in a recent interview with Reggae Steady Ska, Ms. Dakar stated that she's never listened to the finished album), Ms. Dakar took a long break from the ska scene (though she did occasionally sing and record in the 80s and 90s with non-ska acts like Happy House, Palm Skin Productions, Dr. Robert of the Blow Monkeys, and Apollo 440). However, according to Paul Williams' book "You're Wondering Now: The Specials from Conception to Reunion," in 2002 Jennie Matthias (Belle Stars/Big 5) contacted Dakar to see if she was interested in touring with her and Pauline Black of The Selecter as part of a "Ska Divas" supergroup, performing Bodysnatchers, Selecter, and Belle Stars songs--all backed by a band that included Nick Welsh (who, at the time, was the songwriter and bassist of that iteration of The Selecter, and had been a member of Bad Manners, as well as the man behind King Hammond).

These shows rekindled Dakar's love of ska music and later led to a series of fruitful collaborations between her and Welsh (that apparently had been initiated at the suggestion of Ms. Black). In 2006, Welsh left The Selecter and formed Skaville UK--and arranged for Dakar to sing vocals on several tracks on each of that act's two albums (1973 in 2006 and Decadent! in 2008) and she performed gigs with them, as well. Welsh also co-wrote several songs and played all of the instruments on Dakar's 2007 solo record, Cleaning in Another Woman's Kitchen, and the two released the more rock-oriented Back to the Garage in 2009. Dakar also was a featured guest vocalist on Madness' "On the Town," from their stunningly good 2009 album, The Liberty of Norton Folgate (read my thoughts on that record here).

After having been approached by a seemingly never-ending stream of Bodysnatchers and 2 Tone fans over the span of several decades about the possibility of her releasing an album of unrecorded Bodysnatchers' tunes (a full-on reunion was never in the cards; the split in 1981 wasn't amicable)--coupled with the 35th anniversary of the band's formation and an opportunity to perform Bodysnatchers' songs on Halloween at the Jazz Cafe in Camden--led Dakar to get in touch with Sean Flowerdew (Pama Intl/Phoenix City All-stars/London International Ska Festival) to see if he thought it was feasible to put together some sort of recording. Of course, he did--and with Dakar's suggestion that they crowd fund the album through PledgeMusic (full disclosure: I financially supported this project in exchange for a CD and LP!), they assembled an all-star ska backing band (featuring two Specials, Lynval Golding on guitar and Horace Panter on bass; Sean Flowerdew on keys and co-producing; Mark Claydon of The Get Up on drums; Lenny Bignell of the Sidewalk Doctors and Phoenix City All-stars on guitar and co-producing; and Karl Wirrmann from Intensified on sax) and recorded 10 tracks live in the studio in one day (including five original and unrecorded Bodysnatchers songs).

While some DGTS readers of a certain age may have been fortunate enough to have seen The Bodysnatchers perform many of these tracks live, this record will be the very first opportunity for many a 2 Tone/Bodysnatchers fan to experience much of this music (it was mine!) and they won't be disappointed, as the songs and performances are nothing short of stellar (Ms. Dakar is in extremely fine form)!

[Some may grouse about the inclusion of the three previously recorded cuts here, plus another cover that was captured in Dance Craze--"Easy Life," Too Experienced," "Let's Do Rocksteady," and Desmond Dekker's "007"--but they likely would have appeared on The Bodysnatchers album, had that come to pass back in 1981. The versions here compare very favorably with the original arrangements (these aren't radical updates--they're true to The Bodysnatchers' 2 Tone sound--and they're terrific) and they deserve inclusion on Rhoda Dakar Sings The Bodysnatchers, since they are the band's signature tunes.]

Much like The Slits' "Typical Girls" (and keeping with 2 Tone's mission to address social, political, and economic injustice within undeniably catchy songs that make one want to dance), The Bodysnatchers' "Easy Life"--the first track on Rhoda Dakar Sings The Bodysnatchers and certainly one of the band's finest moments--challenged 1970 British society's prevailing and very much entrenched attitude regarding the role of women (something we're still grappling with today) and acknowledged how difficult it was/is to defy these imposed expectations and fight for real equality--particularly for young women just reaching adulthood. It was also revolutionary in that they were women singing ska songs--in a scene dominated by young men--from a woman's point of view:

"I've been waiting so long
For this here time to come
I've been waiting ever so long
For this here time to come
But now it's here, do I want it?
Now it's here, I'm not sure if I want it
Why don't I plump for the easy option?
Yes, I could go for the easy option

It could be so easy
Life could be so easy
It could be so easy
Life could be so easy

We are near to our equality
Girls and boys with pay parity
We are near to our equality
The law says there is equal opportunity
But still it's a struggle
Yes, life is still a struggle
I could stay home and play houses
Care for my man and press his trousers

It could be so easy...

Hey girls, it's not too late
To stay home and vegetate
Just like mamma says you should do
Life society says you should do
Is this our natural fate?
I wasn't born to procreate
If I didn't have to use my brain
I know that I would go insane
I refuse, I want to say no
I don't care if it's hard, if it's slow

It could be so easy..."

(One much appreciated bonus to picking up this CD is that it contains song lyrics in the insert; before it arrived, I had been listening to the digital download tracks over and over in my attempt to discern the lyrics to the previously unreleased tracks! Note to bands: Please take the time, effort, and expense to print/post your lyrics somewhere so that fans can easily discern your songs' messages...)

"The Ghost of the Vox Continental" (the Vox Continental is a transistor-based combo organ that was used by Jerry Dammers and Madness' Mike Barson, amongst many other 2 Tone and new wave musicians) is an amusing ghost story about a keyboardist who is crushed by his organ during a load-in, but, even in death, is so devoted to the band that he continues to perform at gigs ("The ghostly keyboard player/Returned to haunt the band/The untouched keyboard moved to/The touch of a ghostly hand...They tried hard for a replacement/But no one stayed for very long/No need for them to learn the set/Vox Continental knew each song"). Of course, the song features a very prominent organ line that has slight echoes of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" (which has been associated with horror movies since its use in films like "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in 1931 and the 1962 Hammer Production of "The Phantom of the Opera"; many ska fans will recognize that The Toasters used its opening measures as the introduction to "Frankenska," on their 1988 Thrill Me Up album).

The carousel-like organ line that opens "Happy Time Tune" belies the suffering and want contained within its lyrics. While enduring the cold and wet London morning, Ms. Dakar recalls a seemingly idyllic family holiday to visit relatives in Jamaica ("We played cricket on the soft grass/Picked Julie mango from the trees"). But these pleasant memories are tempered by the grinding poverty in Jamaica and the song suggests that one should always be aware and appreciate that some people don't have it as good as you do and will never have the chance to go on holiday from the day-to-day lives: "There is another side to Jamaica/Far away from your Orange Street/Where poor people live in iron shacks/No work, no shoes on them feet/For them, there is no happy time/For them, no sun a shine/For them, no bird a sing/You should know everything."

The brilliantly evocative and cinematic "Private Eye"--think Humphrey Bogart as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe in "The Big Sleep"--so deftly captures the essence and spirit of film noir. For portions of the song, Ms. Dakar is a femme fatale ("Said he liked my bleach job, used to be a brunette/I looked at him sideways, he lit my cigarette") who has a history with Marlowe ("He saved my life a few years back/Some crazy meathead was on my track"). One of the great things about this song is how its point of view shifts--at first, Ms. Dakar is the omniscient narrator describing Marlowe on a stakeout on Sunset Boulevard in LA ("Check the drugstore across the street/Saw his suspect come out to meet/Tall man in black, fedora hat/Hailed a cab/That was that"), then she's the femme fatale, followed by the aforementioned, stalking "meathead" encountering the PI ("Marlowe smashed through the door/Stuck a Lugar in my face!"), and finally she's Marlowe, with his lament about his destiny to live on the seamier side of life, but how his profession (and ingrained moral code) keeps him from succumbing to the plethora of sin around him.

"I don't know why I'm a PI, it just doesn't make sense
Every day's a parking lot, the crowd of losers is dense
Wheeling with wasters, dealing with drunks
Whiskey for breakfast, coffee for lunch
High-class fluff, low-class hotels
Drugstore cowboys, nights spent in cells
Got no family, I got no home
All my romance takes place on the phone
Don't work too much, it don't really matter
If I didn't exist like this
I'd be with the rest, in the gutter"

The immensely catchy "The Loser" finds the singer giving dating and sartorial advice to an uncool guy whose approach toward women is painfully wrong. He heeds all of it and transforms himself into a popular ladies' man. To the dismay of the singer, she finds herself falling for him, too, even though she knows his front is more of a put-on than real:

"Time when by and I noticed the change
Acting still, but the role was new
You tried less, achieved and enigmatic pose
Taken in, girls surrounded you
Suddenly, when next we met
I realized I'd fallen for this drip
On each arm clung adoring girls
"By the way, thank you for the tip""

The take-away of the incredible, but sorrowful, rocksteady-ish "Mixed Feelings" is that one shouldn't settle for relationships that are conflicted, compromised, or fake: "So many people spend their days/Wondering if they like or hate/Too many people waste their time/Telling, telling the truth and wish they were lying/They are laughing, but crying/Just crying inside/Knowing their heart was broken..."

Apart from the strange notion that had the native peoples of North America only shared their lands with the white European invaders and not fought "with national pride," they wouldn't have been almost completely wiped out, "Hiawatha" is a welcome plea for rejecting nationalism and embracing multiculturalism (two prominent issues that England was beginning to grapple with in the late 70s/early 80s), as well as keeping in mind that we're all descended from common ancestors, if you go back far enough: "Integration, social changes/Different customs, faces/Stops us from getting in a rut." (It should be noted that in the Belle Stars' music video for "Hiawatha," the awful "native" costume touches and set--with totem poles!--trade on stereotypes and almost negate the positive message of the song!)

Rhoda Dakar Sings The Bodysnatchers is The Duff Guide to Ska's pick for album of the year. It's a superb album in its own right and an incredibly momentous development for the global ska scene--a "lost" 2 Tone record has been recovered, finally rendering the 2 Tone label discography complete. Get Rhoda Dakar Sings The Bodysnatchers now!

Ska Crowd Funding: Rhoda Dakar of The Bodysnatchers!

Rhoda Dakar demonstrating her moves.

Here's an interesting ska crowd funding project that we're planning to support! In recognition and celebration of The Bodysnatchers' 35th(!) anniversary (it's important to note that they were 2 Tone's only all-girl group), vocalist Rhoda Dakar is recording an album of unreleased and unheard Bodysnatchers material, most of which she wrote or co-wrote back in the day. (Dakar stresses that The Bodysnatchers are NOT reforming, this is her project in tribute to the band--think Rhoda Dakar sings The Bodysnatchers' unreleased songs.) If you're interested in funding this project, there are digital downloads, CDs, vinyl records, etc. available at various pledge levels--all the details are available on her PledgeMusic page.

Word from Sean Flowerdew via the Specials' fan site is that these songs will be recorded with a full band and produced in a manner that will attempt to be faithful to The Bodysnatchers' original sound. And when I checked in with Ms. Dakar, she confirmed with me that, indeed, the songs will be captured in the studio with a full band, but due to the tight deadline and availability of musicians she's asked to accompany her, she's understandably reluctant to announce who else may be involved in her project until the album is in the can.

Apart from two great singles ("Let's Do the Rocksteady" b/w "Ruder Than You"--which was co-written with Gaz Mayall before he became a Trojan--and "Easy Life" b/w "Too Experienced"), a track on the soundtrack to the 2 Tone film Dance Craze, and inclusion of these songs on various 2 Tone compilations, The Bodysnatchers didn't leave much recorded music behind after their break-up (of course, Rhoda went on to join The Special AKA, while other members went on to form the pop group the Belle Stars--and this band later begat the brilliant ska group The Deltones in the late 1980s). So, this is an amazing opportunity to see what might have been, had The Bodysnatchers soldiered on after the flame out of 2 Tone mania in the UK, instead of dissolving.

Also, if you're in the UK, Rhoda Dakar will be performing a one-off show of these songs at an "Invasion of The Bodysnatchers" gig at Camden Town’s legendary Jazz Cafe this coming Halloween.

Duff Review: The Meow Meows "Somehow We Met"

Killer Ska
2013
CD
Limited edition color vinyl LP on Jump Up Records, 2014

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Somehow We Met, the fantastic Prince Fatty-produced second album from the Brighton, UK female-fronted The Meow Meows, brims with so much originality and brilliance that you'll want to run out and thrust it into the faces of all those who dismiss the contemporary ska scene as a tired, uninspired revival of a revival of a revival (since this album handily refutes all of these unfair criticisms). While other ska bands have mixed in elements of fuzzy garage rock and sunny 60s AM/girl group pop into their sound (I'm thinking of you, Deltones!), not many have done it quite like this. The Meow Meows' music is firmly rooted in 2 Tone and modern ska (as represented by The Toasters circa their Thrill Me Up album), but the songwriting is so fully and uniquely their own that their sound also manages to defy the genre's boundaries. Don't get me wrong, Somehow We Met is a ska record through and through (that the ska faithful will love!), but it's one that even the ska haters just might be chagrined to find themselves liking.

While there are some nods to their musical predecessors and established ska conventions--see the song "Rude Girl's Gone To Jail," a tip of the hat to The Specials' "Rude Buoy's Outta Jail" that contains some Roddy Radiation rockabilly guitar licks and "England's Over," which is critical (in the 2 Tone fashion of decrying social and economic injustice) of the policies (in this case, the tripling of university fees) of "Coalition England," which is comprised of the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister David Cameron, who is an acknowledged fan of the despised "Stand Down Margaret" Thatcher, and the Liberal Democrats, led by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg--The Meow Meows blaze their own trail with songs that convey strong emotions and tales of sticky situations (often about relationships, as well as female sexuality and desire), but whose underlying meaning or true message are sometimes opaque to everyone but their composers.

A perfect example of this is the fantastically buoyant and groovy "Disaster! Disaster!" The singer is clearly in a terrible psychological state, but we're not given any insight as to why she's so alienated and pessimistic --and what from her past is tormenting her. Yet, we can all relate to this mood: "Don't try to talk to me today/There's people all around me/And I'm feeling strange/Just look left, look right and run away/Up and down the street, it's a strange escape/Disaster, disaster as I'm walking down the street/Disaster, disaster the only thing I see/Think faster, think faster, these ghosts that follow me." Another intriguing track is "Rude Girl's Gone to Jail," which is about setting an undefined something in motion that goes horribly awry, as well as trying to fight an adversary when the odds are very much stacked against you: "So I find my last working matches/And I start a fire/And they said they understood/But it was a lie/They ran away, they're gonna run around town/They're gonna burn it down now/They got a lighter, they're gonna fight her/Oh, but they burned, they burned it down..."

The sad and haunting "Milton Keynes" (a reference to one of the planned communities or "new towns" that have been built in the post-WWII UK--think Levittown, LI or Celebration, FL here in the USA) appears to be about becoming disoriented in the blandness, the sameness, and the boredom of a place and discovering the urge to escape it. You can easily imaging the reggay-ish "Banknote" being covered by Prince Fatty's incredible singer/collaborator Hollie Cook, but I'm not certain whether or not it's concerning the shedding of one's obsession with money and casting off its control over us (not a bad message in these terribly greedy, new Gilded Age times).

Things are more discernible when we enter the realm of romantic love and sex. "Just Too Young" (the title, intentionally or not, brings to mind The Specials' "Too Much Too Young" and the song has lyrical echoes of The Beat's "Walk Away") is about the woman extracting herself from a relationship with an emotionally stunted guy that has put everything into perspective for her ("Thought I was a creep and a fool/'Til I ran into you/And saw the things that you do/Now I see I'm not so bad/The definition of mad/has a picture of you"). The all-out late 60s pop of "Do Anything"--the only non-ska track here--is a powerful, catchy, and almost deliriously happy (now that the singer's free!) kiss off to a man who's done her wrong. "If You Were My Boy" is a sweet and lovely mid-tempo ska song (despite being complete unrealistic!) about pining for a guy that would set everything wrong right: "Nothing to drink the pub dry for/No need to start World War Four/No need to kick the bathroom door/...If you were my boy." The resigned "(I Don't Know Why) I Love You" is an honest look at how we don't mean to hurt the ones we love, but we do--and that there often isn't a good explanation for why we keep loving people within painful, complicated relationships ("So, let's make a promise/To never let it go/At least 'til the next time/We get back together/Forever/Whatever").

"WhyWhyWhy" is an ecstatic ska 'n' soul expression/celebration of pure female lust (which will make you want to get up on your feet and dance, amongst other things), while "Might as Well Be You" verges on ska-rock/punk with a tale of an almost monstrous, all-consuming female desire for flesh, sex, and inflicting damage: "Slipping through trees/And reaching the street light/Oh, please don't keep me waiting/Running in silence, and hoping for violence/I'm sick of hibernating...I can track you down and make you go down/The road or the river, your liver for dinner/I've got the taste of chase now." (All she needs are some fava beans and a nice chianti!)

One of the best songs on Somehow We Met is "Siberian Soup," The Meow Meows' kick-ass tribute to Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist punk rock collective that is actively opposed to President Vladimir Putin's anti-women and anti-LBGT policies (and what they perceive to be the Russian Orthodox Church's complicity); several members of Pussy Riot were tried, convicted, and sentenced to two years for their 2012 protest/performance in Moscow's main Russian Orthodox church, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and they became a cause celebre around the world (I just saw Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina interviewed on Bill Maher's show last night). While The Meow Meows singers stage a minor, personal riot of their own ("Take my clothes off and I put my lipstick on/Kick my legs in the air and I start/Singing your song"), what they really hope for is someday to have the same type of courage as the women in Pussy Riot: "Take your place now, to play the gig of your life/A rainbow coloured angry thorn in his side/I wish my words were even half as true/Wish once in my life I'd be as brave as you!" They want some of whatever inspired and fortified them to demonstrate in the first place and emotionally/psychologically sustained the Pussy Riot members during their hard time in separate gulags...

The Meow Meows' name might refer to the slang for Mephedrone (a plant food that can also be used as substitute for Ecstasy, according to the Urban Dictionary), but what they really are on Somehow We Met is a revelation. I highly recommend this record!

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The Meow Meows are:

Danny Noble: vocals
Hanna Mawbe: vocals
Claire Ellis: tenor sax
Emma King: alto sax
Matt Ellis: trumpet
Alex D. Hay: keys
Danny Ashcroft: guitar
Ian Mackenzie: bass
Matt Gale: drums

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