Ska Vendors - Vendors' Stew
July 10th 2006 10:06
The first three songs are those I’ve heard before. The opening track Venors’ Stew is one of their earliest tunes and is extremely catchy. It’s a call to arms or rather the dancefloor, where the anthem-like lyrics read, We are the Ska Vendors all right, We’re coming to your party, we’re gonna make it right. Straight up they tell you what the CD is going to be about, no two ways about it. A bunch of dancing traditional type ska songs with their own little slant is one you are going to get. The second track is Everyday Joe, which is more of the same though not my favourite track and then we have BLT, a nice little Ditty about a family ritual care of lead singer Steve. The fourth track of six is an instrumental, Hoodlum Nightcaps, which both breaks up the CD and is an example of how far the band has come. They are more polished and offer interesting songs. This song is particularly layered, with some excellent guitar work from the great John Holmes and a nice mix of punchy horn lines and solos.
The fifth song is probably my favourite original on the EP. It is Pay For Your Crime and is another catchy upbeat number. A bit more 2-tone sounding I suppose, which is a positive I think and is something that comes a lot from Steve’s Scottish accent. It is a very endearing and unique quality of this band that you cannot escape.
The CD ends on a high and I commend the band for their cover of this Byron Lee/Eric Morris track. I don’t like to say my favourite track on the CD is a cover, but it is up there as one of my faves. It is done so well – they must be applauded for the sound, on this song and the entire short player. Backing vocals on this track are particularly effective and it just sums up that period the band is noticeably influenced by.
Hear some tracks on My Space: http://www.myspace.com/theskavendors
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