Duff Review: Detroit Riddim Crew meets Crazy Baldhead "Instru-Mental"

Abbey Productions/Jump Up Records
12" vinyl LP/digital
2022

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Instru-Mental, the sophomore LP from Eric Abbey's Detroit Riddim Crew, is an entirely different beast from their great debut album Detroit Riddim Crew and Friends (read my review of it here). That record featured ska-ified secular Christmas cuts on the A side and a collection of ska, rocksteady, reggae, and dancehall tracks with a rotating cast of musicians on the B. This time out, the concept is five wonderfully moody Abbey-penned ska and reggae instrumentals (acely performed by members of Mephiskapheles, J. Navarro & the Traitors, Dub is a Weapon, Monkey, Full Watts Band/Uzimon, Pilfers, Unsteady/Smoke & Mirrors Soundsystem, 1592, Dirty Notion, and even a few Abbey offspring) paired with dub concoctions created by Crazy Baldhead (AKA Jayson Nugent)--and the resuts are pretty sweet.

Like its cover artwork that borrows elements from Saul Bass' graphic design work for Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, the songs on Instru-Mental have a filmic quality to them. "Dark Dance" sounds like the theme song to a horror movie (think "Nightmare on Elm Street" or "Evil Dead") and it would have fit in well on Mato's phenomenal Scary Dub LP. "Midnight Walk," which was unearthed after two decades in lying in Abbey's archive (or, um, crypt!), is appropriately eerie, particularly in its dub version. "Traveling" is superb Upsetters-styled early reggae and the spaghetti Western reggae "Forward" sports an awesomely dramatic surf guitar solo. And Crazy Baldhead's masterful dub work takes everything to a new level, deconstructing and reassembling the originals in all sorts of clever and electrifying ways.

Instru-Mental already makes on my list of top 2022 releases (can't wait to get my hands on the vinyl), and I look forward to listening to it repeatedly to keep me going no matter what the rest of this year brings.

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Asian Man Records Celebrates 20 Years with Five Nights of Shows in San Francisco this June!

Congrats to Mike Park and Asian Man Records on the label's 20th Anniversary! The five June shows in San Francisco feature both punk and ska bands (Let's Go Bowling, Chris Murray, Monkey, MU330!).

Live long and prosper, Mike!

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Asian Man Records' 15th Anniversary Festival!

Mad respect to Mike Park for keeping his incredible DIY punk rock 'n' ska label--Asian Man Records--going all of these years! He's throwing a huge multi-day festival (June 15-19 at Slim's, Bottom of the Hill, and Thee Parkside in San Francisco) with over 40 acts (as well as a free BBQ on June 18th at Thee Parkside from 2:30-6:30 PM)--all of the event details can be found here.

Ska and ska-punk bands featured at the Asian Man Records 15th Anniversary Festival include MU330, Monkey, Unsteady, Buck-o-Nine, Slow Gherkin, Slapstick, The Chinkees, Bomb the Music Industry, and more. Plus, there are a slew of punk bands if yer into that kind of thing!

If you're anywhere near the Bay Area, this looks like a terrific way to spend a couple of days. Support live music--support the bands--support Asian Man Records!

Caribbean Moonstomp Preview with Jump Up Records' Boss Man Chuck Wren

DGTS: What motivated you to put together the Caribbean Moonstomp at this point in time? Are you seeing a significant uptick in the popularity of ska in Chicago and the Midwest--or this more of a 'it's the label's fifteenth anniversary, so we're going throw a party?'

Chuck Wren: Basically, I think it's important to throw an event at these milestones in the label's history. We're pretty much the only label that has lasted this many years that has actually released new music in EVERY year of our existence. We never went dormant--we kept going! Yes, ska and reggae shows do pretty good here in Chicago. And bands like Deal's Gone Bad are finally getting the recognition they deserve on a national scale. But I didn't want to do a weekend with the same old bands time and time again--I wanted to do an event. That's why I decided to fly in Roy Ellis and do a one off show in Chicago. Roy is a living legend--and now that labels like Hellcat are making the "skinhead reggae" sound more well known, I figured it was time to bring in one of the genre's top marquee artists!

DGTS: What's your connection with Roy Ellis and how did you convince him to headline the festival? Is he one of your all time ska/skinhead reggae faves?

CW: Well, we released Roy's ("aka MR SYMARIP") album here in the states. Of course, getting into ska and reagge in the 80s you were heavily exposed to the skinhead subculture. Bands like SYMARIP were so influential with the 2-Tone generation, etc. And Roy's voice is still top notch and he is full of enthusiasm--just see his performances on YouTube. He was a natural choice--and I had been trying to get him to come to the states for the past two years!

DGTS: The other acts on each night's bill are all pretty incredible; how did you come to select them--are these some of you favorite acts on the scene, or were they the ones that were available and willing to participate?

CW: The list was longer! But, of course, not everyone can come. We were glad to have Eastern Standard Time step up to the plate to play and back Roy--and the whole Monkey (Jump Up will release their trad album this year) backing Dr. Ring Ding and then dragging his ass back to Cali for a full tour--well, that was some amazing timing and it worked out perfectly! The Large and in Charge band was my wacky idea because every year the indie rock festival, Pitchfork got seminal artists to play a specific classic album side. Public Enemy did "It Takes A Nation of Millions," Sonic Youth did "Daydream Nation"....why the hell can't the 1998 lineup of Deal's Gone Bad do their first album "Large and in Charge?" Now that's FUN!

DGTS: How many people are you expecting to show up at the Caribbean Moonstomp?

CW: If I had that information before each event, I would be a rich man that sleeps well! We picked the new Bottom Lounge because it can hold over 500 people comfortably--so let's go for that! Tickets are selling great, people seem to be traveling from all across the USA, so we hope that this will be quite huge!

DGTS: What's coming down the Jump Up Records pipeline for the next few months?

CW: New Pressure Cooker, Dub Is A Weapon, and who knows? I take each day as it comes! Thanks for the interest--come all to Chicago! Plenty of cheap motels on Lincoln Avenue!

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The Jump Up Records' Caribbean Moonstomp Fest is taking place on Friday, October 3rd; Saturday, October 4th; and Sunday, October 5th at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago. Details can be found at Jump Up Records; tickets may be purchased at www.mpshows.com.

Thanks to Chuck Wren for taking the time to do this interview. If you can, go see these bands!

Jump Up Records' Caribbean Moonstomp Fest

If you live/work/exist anywhere remotely near the Chicago area, you owe it to yourself to go to Jump Up's Caribbean Moonstomp Fest on October 3, 4, and 5 at the Bottom Lounge (how randy of them!). This ska festival has three nights (!) of stellar trad-leaning bands--including Roy Ellis of Symarip-- from all over the US (and a couple from Europe, too, like Dr. Ring Ding)--all organized and sponsored by DJ Chuck Wren's Jump Up Records (this fest marks the label's 15th anniversary!). Chuck has never lost faith in ska, rocksteady, and reggae; has been a steadfast promoter of the bands and scene-and is a hell of a nice guy to boot. Needless to say, he deserves our support (go and order some records from him, dammit!). If I had the time and $$$ to catch these shows, I'd be there in a New York minute.

(Having said that, if there is anyone out there who is going to the Caribbean Moonstomp Fest who would be interested in taking photos and writing up a review on all this for The Duff Guide to Ska, please get in touch with me!)