Search - Floyd Lloyd :: Tear It Up: Ska Album

Floyd Lloyd - the real deal

Jake Pegg | PDX | 01/02/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD came to me originally in a batch of promotional CD's, and I thought to myself, "Great -- another NEW SKA record, that's the last damn thing I need." I let it sit for a few weeks along with a pile of other 'fourth wave' ska rubbish - you know the kind I mean. Anyway, when I finally put it in, I was ashamed at how I had let it fester. This may be a new recording, but this CD couldn't have been more faithful to Skatalites, Desmond Dekker, and Toots-era ska without trying, which, for these folks, is entirely unneccesary. 'Sweet Lady' is my favorite track on the record, where a great horn line gives the New Orleans horn section a chance to shine. Their great, fat sound provides a good deal of the band's drive, second only to Floyd Lloyd himself, who has a great vocal style steeped in years of this music and its mother culture. The recent suburban-punk-rock-kids-turned ska bands pale in comparison."