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"Reggae scorchers, ska stormers, soulful rocksteady grooves; for an authentic Jamaican beat, get hip to the pounding sounds of INTENSIFIED." So says the cover of the second INTENSIFIED album "Faceman Sound": 14 new tracks which, whilst paying respectful detail to the Jamaican sounds of the 60's and early 70's, further strengthen the band's own style and distinctive flavour. "Morality Panic" is a typical INTENSIFIED ska vocal, lively and danceable, with socially topical lyrics, something familiar to fans of 60's ska. "Direction" is an uptempo track with soulful horns and a strong vocal delivery from frontman Paul Carter. Slick, sweet and catchy to the end. "Treasure Island" is a smooth rocksteady number from the group, with Carter once again on hot form, a strong bass-line from Atherton, pick-up guitar from Harrington and the introduction of new artillery in the camp - the keyboard of Andy Pearson (ex 100 Men). "Grim Prairie Tale" is drummer Terry Davey's first song, a thumping ska instrumental in a spaghetti western vein, the INTENSIFIED horn section smoking hot. "Maybe" brings forward a tight, bubbling late 60's style reggae, a melancholy vocal with sweet backing and keyboard solo. Next up is the band's last 7" single, the live favourite "Glamour Girls", a re-working of a 60's Bluebeat vocal. "Hot Lead Shuffle" takes the band into new territory thanks to the keyboard of Pearson, a hammond organ instrumental in the best Pama/Trojan traditions - pumping sticky rhythm, and funky lead. INTENSIFIED re-introduce an essential style of reggae that no one else keeps alive today. Truly boss! "Bring It Back", with its singalong lyrics, simply pays tribute to the dancehalls of Jamaica that have gone before, "Rolando" brings Pete McLaren, tenor sax, forward for the first time as a writer - what started as an eastern sounding ditty, ended as a Latin tinged instrumental tribute to Skatalites' saxophonist Rolando Alphonso - atmospheric, and with burra style ska drumming from Davey, this hits the spot! "Ransom" offers reggae with a neat horn arrangement and another strong vocal delivery. "Jeckyll & Hyde" is set to become a ska classic - irresistibly danceable, tight rhythm and clever lyrics, together with a Baba Brooks style trumpet solo from AJ MacRae. This is followed by a tune originally by Brooks himself, "Duck Soup", blasting ska horns at their best. "She's So Fine", from the pen of MacRae, once again his first, is already whipping up the dance floors - a smooth, silky, swing-ska vocal, with a hot solo from Alto man Wirrmann, and 'big band' ending. The album closes in funky style, Pearson again leading in a 1970 Brixton strut across the hammond, in a reggae version of the soul classic "Cool Jerk". INTENSIFIED'S debut album "Yard Shaker" received good acclaim in the popular music press and rave reviews in the many ska and reggae fanzines across the globe ("the British Skatalites" I "the best UK ska release since the Potato 5 debut album in the mid 8O's" / "contains tracks destined to become modern ska classics"), "Facemnan Sound" takes the band to new heights, and will further
establish them as Britain's leading light in the world of ska and reggae.
With a touch of retro in the brilliant cover artwork, and the music keeping
traditional authenticity as its backbone, INTENSIFIED still manage to
move the music forward, making it not only a hugely popular live commodity,
but an album which proves that it can and should be widely accepted as
a commercial success. |
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