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Duff Review: Red Soul Community "One More Time" b/w Green Room Rockers "I'd Rather Go Blind"

Jump Up Records/Golden Singles Records
2011
Split 7" vinyl single

It was definitely an inspired idea to pair up two of the best ska-reggae-soul acts on the scene, Green Room Rockers (USA) and Red Soul Community (Andulasia), for a split single. But what's even more brilliant--and I'm not even sure this was intentional--is that one side is the answer song to the other; they're two sides of the same coin.

On "One More Time" (an alternate mix of an album track, nicely produced by King Django), Red Soul Community's Isabel Garcia sings about the difficulty of ending a romantic relationship ("One more time/I gotta say goodbye/but for the first time/leaving is too hard"). Even though she knows this is something she's gotta to do, she unexpectedly finds herself adrift: "I'm a tourist everywhere I go." This newfound emotional freedom leaves her without bearings.

A gorgeous voice like Garcia's would haunt any man (or woman, no judgment here!). This kind of major loss (fueled by regret and recriminations) would provoke someone like Mark Cooper of Green Room Rockers to respond with a fabulously aching cover of Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind" ("...than to see you walk away from me"). We'd go with this choice, too.

Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A

Duff Review: The Selecter "Big in the Body, Small in the Mind"

How wild is it that in 2011--roughly 30 years after 2 Tone flamed out--we have not one, but two great-sounding versions of The Selecter playing out and making new music? (While it would be fantastic to have one unified Selecter, internal differences have led Neol Davies to form one, and Pauline Black and Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson to team up for another.)

Pauline's and Gaps' incarnation of The Selecter has just released the new digital single "Big in the Body, Small in the Mind" (for vinyl freaks like me, a limited edition 7" single will be available July 23rd with "Back in Black" on the flip side) in advance of their forthcoming album, Made in Britain (to be released September 1st, 2011 on Vocaphone Records). This extraordinary cover of Woody Guthrie's "All You Fascists" (which may remind one of the Special AKA's powerful and uncompromising "Racist Friend" in content and tone) manages to transform a WWII-era banjo-y anti-racist/fascist folk song into an immediately identifiable and eminently catchy Selecter ska cut.

Like Woody's original (which you can listen to below), Pauline and Gaps are brazenly and gleefully defiant in the face of racial/ethnic/class hatred--and they're more than happy to name the names of the enemies of multiculturalism: KKK, BNP, Tea Party, etc., as well as boneheads everywhere. Indeed, even though The Selecter drops Guthrie's bloody lyrical call to arms ("I'm going into this battle/and take my union gun"), which in Woody's day was directed against Nazi Germany and the Axis, very little content (sadly) needs updating (Guthrie's lyrics are listed below). Pauline does swap out a line about "poll tax and Jim Crow" to reflect the Dickensian economic inequality of our times: "Derivatives and hedge funds/Greed has got to go!" Amen, sister!

The Selecter's choice to cover Woody Guthrie's song is a potent reminder of the great potential of language coupled with popular music to effect social change; for examples, see the fascinating book "33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, from Billie Holiday to Green Day" by Dorian Lynskey, which I'm reading now. (Seems that with all that's going on in the world we could use a bit more music with a message.) Without a doubt, The Selecter's "Big in the Body, Small in the Mind" continues 2 Tone's vitally important tradition of decrying social injustice--and beautifully celebrates Woody Guthrie's incredible musical/political legacy. The lyrics give your head food for thought; the music makes your body want to dance; and a crucially important, and still relevant, anti-racist message is broadcast far and wide.

This is protest music at its best.

Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A

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The Selecter's "Big in the Body, Small in the Mind" can be purchased from Amazon or Amazon UK.

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"All You Fascists" -- Lyrics by Woody Guthrie

I’m gonna tell you fascists
You may be surprised
The people in this world
Are getting organized
You’re bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose

Race hatred cannot stop us
This one thing we know
Your poll tax and Jim Crow
And greed has got to go
You’re bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose.

All of you fascists bound to lose:
I said, all of you fascists bound to lose:
Yes sir, all of you fascists bound to lose:
You’re bound to lose! You fascists:
Bound to lose!

People of every color
Marching side to side
Marching ‘cross these fields
Where a million fascists die
You’re bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose!

I’m going into this battle
And take my union gun
We’ll end this world of slavery
Before this battle’s won
You’re bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose!

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Below is the official Selecter video for the track, along with an abridged version of Woody Guthrie's original song, "All You Fascists."

Duff Review: Jamaica 69 "Nostalgia del ayer" b/w "Una lagrima por ti"

Steady Beat Recordings
2011
7" vinyl single

Luis P. Correa's great Steady Beat Recordings is back on the beat (read up a bit on the label's past here) with must have 7" vinyl singles from Mexico's amazing skinhead reggae devotees Jamaica 69 and LA's vintage ska masters The Delirians (a Duff Guide to Ska write-up of The Delirians' single can be found here).

While both of Jamaica 69's cuts on this single (sung in Spanish) have previously appeared in the US on their The Rough and Tough Anthology (2010, Shantytown Records), it's the first time they've been released on vinyl--and they're sure to help spread the good word about Jamaica 69 even further amongst the Anglo ska crowd. While this reviewer has to fess up to having some significant deficits where the Spanish-language/Latin ska scene is concerned (for instance, the only other Mexican ska band I'm familiar with is the excellent Inspector--which, by the way, fans of The Toasters should really make a point to check out), the language barrier can pose some challenges--especially if what a band is singing about matters to you (using Google Translate more often than not creates some bizarre word salads rather than coherent lyrics). But once the music kicks in, all the language barriers melt away. Ska, rocksteady, and reggae are the same no matter what tongue the lyrics are in...

Both tracks on Jamaica 69's single--covers of sixties soul tunes--are surprisingly raw and tender skinhead reggae love songs. "Nostalgia del ayer" ("Nostalgia for Yesterday") was originally recorded by The Royalettes in 1965 as "Gonna Take a Miracle" (Ken Boothe also recorded a boss rendition of it) and the Jamaica 69 version is about a friend who became a lover "that showed me love every time you shine." "Una lagrima por ti" ("A Tear for You") is a terrific early reggae reading of Brenda Holloway's 1967 Motown hit single "You've Made Me So Very Happy" (notably covered by Alton Ellis) with new lyrics about a lost love: "I will never forget the way you kiss/You made me so happy and now it is enough to mourn" (just please try to obliterate from your mind the bombastic, white bread 1969 cover by Blood, Sweat & Tears that's been a perennial staple of oldies radio and K-Tel/Time-Life collections!).

Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A

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Duff Review: The Delirians "Move Around" b/w "Overdub" and The Return of Steady Beat Recordings!

Steady Beat Recordings
2011
7" vinyl single

From the perspective of someone who's been around long enough to see the US ska scene rise and fall a couple of times, it's fantastic to witness the return of Luis P. Correa's crucial Steady Beat Recordings. Throughout the 90s, Steady Beat was a key booster of the Southern California ska scene (particularly Latin ska and ska-jazz acts), first releasing three Blackpool cassette comps (which featured live cuts from King Willy, Israelites, Orange Street, Ye Olde English, Mobtown, Soulfuls, Buck-o-Nine, See Spot, The Dynamics, Checkmate, Los Hooligans, Mento Buru, and Mealticket) and two Blackpool 7" singles; then the killer SKAuthentic CD (with See Spot, Mobtown, The Dynamics, Los Hooligans, Let's Go Bowling, Yeska, Joey Altruda, Mento Buru, King Willy, Ocean 11, Hepcat, Checkmate, Unsteady, and Israelites); and ultimately singles and/or CDs from See Spot, The Allentons, Yeska, Mobtown, and Ocean 11.

In fact, Luis was so plugged into the scene that back when I was at Moon Records and Buck and I were talking about putting together California Ska-quake, Volume 2: The Aftershock, we tapped Luis to executive produce it--and it turned out to be a phenomenally good release. Yet, despite its high-quality and Moon's promotional efforts, California Ska-quake, Vol. 2 never sold well, which left us somewhat baffled. But considering the fiercely competitive times--1996, at the height of the feeding-frenzy of the ska boom--we chalked it up to West Coast parochialism: we were seen as outsiders trespassing on the LA/Bay Area ska scene turf.

However, when you consider how much Moon had done much to spotlight the Cali scene in the early 90s with seminal releases from Dance Hall Crashers (1991), Let's Go Bowling (1991), and Hepcat (1993), as well as the first California Ska-quake (released in 1992 and featuring tracks from DHC, LGB, No Doubt, Jump with Joey, The Skeletones, Crucial DBC, Skankin' Pickle, Hepcat, The Specs, and more), this bias against Moon seemed kind of ludicrous. The label's intentions were good and pure (at heart, Buck is a socialist and was always trying to work collaboratively with other bands and labels so that all ska boats would rise together), but that's just sometimes how things go in the music business.

The resurrected Steady Beat has recently issued two new limited-edition 7" vinyl singles from Mexico's early reggae crew Jamaica 69 (to be reviewed shortly) and LA's superb ska/rocksteady group The Delirians (who backed Queen P on the Echoes of Kingston tour).

The Delirians' vintage ska sounds mighty good on "Move Around" (love the tinkly piano riffs!), with lyrics that (unsurprisingly) exhort one to dance: "Oh, make your move/Take your groove/Yes, we're gonna let you do your thing/Don't be afraid/or have no shame/Yeah, we'll have our fun anyway/So do The Chicken/The Mash Potato/Yeah, The Twist and The Alligator/Don't be afraid/or have no shame/Who are they to judge, anyway?" If these unrelentingly bouncy ska rhythms don't compel you to dance, you're six feet under. "Overdub," despite its title, is not a dub cut, but rather an upbeat organ-driven instrumental that's got to be a dance floor stormer live.

Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A

Duff Review: Deal's Gone Bad "Far from Home" b/w "These Arms of Mine"

self-released
2011
7" vinyl single, digital download

Chicago's rocksteady-soul outfit Deal's Gone Bad are back with their first new release since The Ramblers (Jump Up Records, 2007)--the slamming new Treasure Isle-goes-Motown single "Far from Home." I haven't heard a cut this inspiring--dare I say joyful--in some time. Your situation's got you lower than low? Crank this baby up on the old dansette (or iPod) and you'll find the inner strength to go on to fight another day.

As you might infer, "Far from Home" is about surviving your life's journey--figuring out how to persevere and overcome all the adversity that might befall you while you're out there on your own. Todd Hembrook sings, "You can go underneath the mountain/but don't you cross the center line/and there are other paths, so far/but beware the short way down/and don't you ever fall behind!" (or else evil, time, or your mistakes will overtake you, no doubt). Despite the myriad challenges, you should never despair, since "the Father is watching from right around the bend/you're half way home!"

The flip side finds the band in Stax territory for a terrifically urgent rocksteady reading of Otis Redding's longing (and in OR's version, almost mournful) "These Arms of Mine." Quick--somebody give Todd a hug before he bursts!

Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A

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"Far from Home" will be released on May 24, 2011. The 7" vinyl single will be available through the band or via Interpunk mail order. The vinyl single is limited to 500 copies-so grab yours fast!

In addition, digital downloads can be purchased through iTunes.

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Duff Review: The Bishops EP

Self-released
2011

It doesn't get much more heartland USA than Omaha, Nebraska (at least in the mind of this big city, East Coaster)--but even there, Jamaican ska is alive and thriving in The Bishops. With their Skatalites-influenced trad ska sound and evocative original songs, The Bishops fall within The Scofflaws, Skavoovie and the Epitones, and Easy Big Fella spectrum of ska music.

The Bishops' self-titled, six-track EP kicks off with the stately and fantastically named instrumental "Louis Farrakhan," followed by the sweet "Front Porch"--which transports the listener to a simpler, "Andy Griffith" era (you can picture the lemonade glasses in their hands as they sit on the porch swing, dad surreptitiously keeping an eye on things from inside), as the singer courts his girl, boldly declaring, "I wanna be your man."

You can hear the something like heartache in the horns as the band looks in the rear view mirror on "Goodbye Bourbon Street." But they're not swearing off booze, as The Bishops celebrate their preferred drink of choice in "Black and Tan": "We've got a favorite concoction/that leads to intoxication..." (and I love how the slightly slurred horn lines suggest the gradual dulling of the senses with every gulp). "Gilbert Gottfried" suits its namesake well, incorporating occasionally dissonant notes in tribute to the grating former Aflac spokesman. The Bishops top off things with "Mr. Egotistical"--a Roddy Radiation-like rockabilly guitar-driven instrumental that one could imagine being written by one of the bands in the 2 Tone fold.

All and all, this is a terrific debut from a band to keep on your radar.

The Duff Guide to Ska Grade: B+