No1 Station - Boss Beat....A Review

Rockers Revolt, who are quickly gaining a reputation for quality releases and have just about come up trumps again with No1 Stations follow up to "Keep Up The Pressure", "Boss Beat". The album is a mix of Ska, Rocksteady and Reggae, with dare I say tinges of pop thrown in.
The band has been touted as "the vanguards of a new generation of Blue Beat", and although that is most definitely true of the instrumental cuts on here, the vocal slices tend to veer off that track.
The best of these vocal cuts are "She's So Sweet" a fine early reggae, almost Pama'ish, sounding tune, while"You Wanna Get Busy With Me", featuring the talents of female vocalist Persia (shame she wasn't used more), is where reggae meets soul. The vocal songs are not all 'boy meets girl', 'loves lost and gained' as "Stop The Fighting", is pure roots reggae, with its conscious lyrics, calling on world leaders to basically get their acts together and well.... Stop Fighting.
Three of the vocal compositions feature a lady by the name of Ms. Moretti, who is teamed up with MC Boss on two of them. If you've ever wondered what Lilly Allen and the 'toasting' style of Glen Pine of Slackers fame would sound like together then "Best Friend" and "Friday Night" are it. "Best Friend" is a piece of what I can only describe as ska – pop, while "Best Friend" is on a rocksteady / lovers rock tip. The best of Ms Moretti's bunch though is when she is singing on her own on "Player Hater", with its thunder clap beginning and dark, deep, brooding bass line, while she chillingly croons her 'Hell have no fury like a woman scorned' sentiments.
The instrumentals for me are the stronger tracks on the album, and "Airstrip One", which gets proceedings under way, is stomping ska in the mould of Baba Brooks, and the cracking title track "Boss Beat" is skinhead reggae in the style of The Upsetters (if this doesn't get you moving, then you need to check for a pulse!). "Reel Skank" and "Alpha Skank" feature renowned trumpeter Eddie 'Tan-Tan' Thornton, and both tunes do exactly what they say on the tin, making you wanna skank. "Reel Skank" just gets the nod in my opinion as Tan Tan plays musical bat and ball with a violinist Seamus McKenna
Over all this is quite a good album, which has something for just about everybody. It wears its influences firmly on its sleeve, and on hearing it you'll feeling like you've heard most of the songs somewhere before. Perhaps not as strong as previous offerings from this label, but a mighty fine effort all the same.

Tracklist:

01 Airstrip One

02 She's So Sweet

03 Jackie Chan (South China Sea)

04 Best Friend featuring Ms. Moretti & MC Boss

05 Boss Beat

06 You Wanna Get Busy With Me featuring Persia

07 Jiggy Reggae - MC.Boss & No.1 Station

08 Russian Stylee featuring Stax

09 Stop The Fighting

10 Friday Night featuring Ms. Moretti & MC Boss

11 Reel Skank featuring Tan-Tan

12 Last Train

13 Pure Ecstasy featuring Stax

14 Player Hater featuring Ms. Moretti

15 Alpha Skank featuring Tan Tan

To get a free download of "Friday Night" visit

http://www.rockersrevolt.com/category/rockers-revolt-downloads/