It’s been a while since New Town Kings were assaulting the airwaves with their infectious brand of reggae-tinged ska. Since their second album M.O.J.O. and a fairly relentless touring schedule, they’ve had a bit of an issue with frontmen, replacing former vocalist Chris with the enigmatic Dabs Bonner. The result is this outstanding four-track EP.

Much more politically charged than their previous outings, Pull Up & Rewind is a fairly daring record. Lead single ‘Change’ is trad ska at its best, and is surprisingly intricate given its simple structure. Dabs’ vocals are absolutely spot on, and it’s really refreshing to hear a song of this nature calling for positive change, rather than just being a standard rant against the authorities. It’s about having to move forward – a sentiment that New Town Kings have no doubt had to embrace in the past 12 months. Although I keep expecting the track to speed up, but it never does. It doesn’t need to – it still manages to retain its power as an upbeat, but slow jam. ‘Luna Rosa’ meets my demands for speed, and the dual vocal approach in this reggae love song is really fun. I’m glad to see that New Town Kings have retained that same sense of fun that made their last two records so great. As far as the sound goes, it’s not a huge progression on M.O.J.O. but they already had that nailed. However, each song is tighter, and there’s more of that reggae flair coming through. Plus there’s some fantastic keys in tracks like ‘Grabbed My Hand’, some clever lyrics and perfect summer vibes. It’s punk for people who don’t like punk – ‘Cool The Pressure Down’ does a great job of hiding a wider political agenda under sweet ska rhythms and some bloody fantastic trumpets.

New Town Kings might have been testing the waters a little bit with Pull Up & Rewind, but have come back swinging to let everyone know that they’re still one of the best ska bands in the UK today, if not the world. Their next album is due out by the end of the year – if it’s anything like this, it is going to be massive.

4.5 out of 5 high fives!

New Town Kings are a breath of fresh air. The nine piece reggae/ska act from Colchester have got something wonderful in M.O.J.O, their new album. M.O.J.O, standing for Music Of Jamaican Origin is a highly apt name – the album’s got a great laidback Caribbean feel. It’s catchy chillout kind of stuff and we love it.

First track, Games That People Play hooks you in immediately, with its summery sound and surprisingly sardonic lyrics. Throughout the album, the focus is on the brass, a much stronger influence in their sound than in most British ska at the moment; the scene tending to opt for a harder punk edge. However, the fusion approach works incredibly well for New Town Kings. It’s refreshing and diverse. Following track Stop and in fact, most of the album takes a similar upbeat format to Games That People Play, but there’s some blinders in Dynamite and New Town Hop, both of which take a slightly darker tone to the previous tracks. Dynamite in particular is great for dancing and my favourite track on the album, due to its impressive brass section. New Town Hop is a mostly instrumental affair, or as vocalist Chris Watts professes, ‘this is a ting called ska in a New Town stylee!’ and it most certainly is! New Town Kings are completely individual in a highly dub/punk dominated ska scene at the moment.

The band are great storytellers as well, with songs like Steal For His Bread and Stringalong giving that Jamaican ballad feel. Although it’s easy to just let it play in the background, the lyrics are most definitely worth a listen. This isn’t the most political band of them all, but there’s a definite edge to their lyrics, one which should be taken notice of.

Perhaps my one criticism of the album is that the songs become highly familiar after a while. Although there’s plenty of variety within the album, the track order doesn’t really highlight this too well by putting a lot of similar songs together, hence when a track like Dynamite or New Town Hop comes along, it takes you completely by surprise. This is a virtue in its own right, but this album doesn’t deserve to be background music, though it may provide the perfect summer soundtrack. Nevertheless, if this is your view throughout most of the album, then final track Brighter Days will certainly make you stand up and take notice – a song with a brilliantly positive message and some super sweet key changes. More guitar based than the rest, it rounds the album off perfectly.

The band are on tour right now, and it’d be worth checking them out. The songs on M.O.J.O would surely sound sublime live. This is just the kind of album I’ve been looking for. And it’s out now. Sorted.

4 out of 5 high fives!