Call it a case of high school nostalgia, but I'm absolutely digging the new Pietasters album, All Day, released this week.I was first introduced to this group, and ska music in general, when their album Awesome Mix Tape #6 was released, and honestly I haven't listened to them much in about four or five years. But certain things are hard to ignore when they come across your inbox and a few weeks ago I fould myself bopping along to their music like it was 1999.
With All Day (produced by James Brown's engineer Todd Harris), the Pietasters have more than paid homage to the sound coming out of Detroit in the 1960s. This album absolutely drips with Motown Cool right from the opening track "Change My Ways," with its old school drum and horn intro.
While the group has always been influenced by soul music, never has the influence been so apparent as they smoothly fuse it with ska and Jamaican sounds. Other favorites on the album are the upbeat "Keep on Lyin'" and closing track "G to F."
Though the band has never shied away from covers, they took it in a completely unexpected direction this time, covering Tom Petty's "Listen to Her Heart." While Petty purists may not appreciate the nod, the Jamaican flavor the group added to the song with a slowed down beat and mellow guitar strums somehow make it fit perfectly.
The Pietasters will play Cat's Cradle tomorrow night. While their shows were always a bit raucous for me, who knows, I may head out anyway. After all, I'm feeling nostalgic.
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