Maroon Town, who are soon to found be appearing at the London Ska Festival, have been peddling their ultra radio friendly blend of brass bustin’ ska, infused with Latin beats and rap since 1988 when they first struck out with their debut single a version of Prince Buster’s ‘City Riot’. Since then they have travelled the globe playing in places as diverse as Brazil, India, Jamaica, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Argentina and Indonesia as well as all over Europe.
This new…..well nearly new album continues to encapsulate their sound and it could easily slip into the mainstream market especially with its opening salvo the very boisterous booze fuelled chant along ‘Ya Ya (Lemme Tell Dem)’. ‘Latin Moshpit’ is another pacey workout which knocks on the door of Ricky Martin ‘She Bangs’ territory, though there is no denying that those funky Latin beats are infectious and soon win you over, plus there is more chant along madness on the amusing 'Wreckless', which features Eastend MC trio, the Wreckless Crew.
Interspersed and putting some brakes on all this high tempo early frivolity is the sultry rocksteady, pop groove of ‘Lion’ and some jazzy coolness on ‘Bella Cosa’.
Now here is where we get to my point of…nearly new…as up pops ‘Are You Ready’, ‘Bullit’, ‘Innocent Mind’ and ‘Clarendon Calling’ from 1997’s Don Drummond with the latter two replacing the male rapped vocals for those sung by a smooth and soulful lady. They then go even further back to give you their cover of the Herbie Hancock jazz standard ‘Watermelon Man’ from 1995’s New Dimension. Now if you are a hardened fan of Maroon Town and already own both of these albums you may feel a little cheated by this fact, but if you haven’t then this will not be a problem because despite all these age differences between songs they all easily fit together to create a vibrant album that has plenty of feel good factor about it and one that I feel that with a few months to go could build into one of the party albums of the summer.
This new…..well nearly new album continues to encapsulate their sound and it could easily slip into the mainstream market especially with its opening salvo the very boisterous booze fuelled chant along ‘Ya Ya (Lemme Tell Dem)’. ‘Latin Moshpit’ is another pacey workout which knocks on the door of Ricky Martin ‘She Bangs’ territory, though there is no denying that those funky Latin beats are infectious and soon win you over, plus there is more chant along madness on the amusing 'Wreckless', which features Eastend MC trio, the Wreckless Crew.
Interspersed and putting some brakes on all this high tempo early frivolity is the sultry rocksteady, pop groove of ‘Lion’ and some jazzy coolness on ‘Bella Cosa’.
Now here is where we get to my point of…nearly new…as up pops ‘Are You Ready’, ‘Bullit’, ‘Innocent Mind’ and ‘Clarendon Calling’ from 1997’s Don Drummond with the latter two replacing the male rapped vocals for those sung by a smooth and soulful lady. They then go even further back to give you their cover of the Herbie Hancock jazz standard ‘Watermelon Man’ from 1995’s New Dimension. Now if you are a hardened fan of Maroon Town and already own both of these albums you may feel a little cheated by this fact, but if you haven’t then this will not be a problem because despite all these age differences between songs they all easily fit together to create a vibrant album that has plenty of feel good factor about it and one that I feel that with a few months to go could build into one of the party albums of the summer.
CD available at Rockers Revolt
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