Blog Post
Ghost Town Steppas – “!From Da Frontlines” (2024 Remaster)
Reviewed by Allister Spence • 27 May 2024
There’s a wealth of influence on this album. Originally released in 2022 it has been given an extra polish, shine, and remaster in 2024. To anyone who grew up in the late seventies or early eighties or is a fan of the UK ska scene of that time, you’re going to hear how those sounds shaped and moulded what the Ghost Town Steppas are. There’re prominent hints of Madness, The Specials, The Selector, Penetration, The Beat (or The English Beat if you’re American) and General public as well as other influential bands of the eighties underground/college scene. The last two bands on that list are key to the sound and development of Ghost Town Steppas. Dave Wakeling, frontman and a key songwriter in both bands has been a mentor to Ghost Town Steppas frontman and songwriter, Christian Simeon (GeminiiDragon, Outlaw Nation).
What Ghost Town Steppas bring out of that mix is a sound so tight it’s in danger of splitting at the seams. This is a record that you can get mellow to, have a chilled skank and imagine sunny beaches to, mostly! If I had to describe the feel of the album it would be to say that it’s the bastard love child of a three way between The Specials “Ghost Town” (moody synths and clipped guitars), The Beats “Save it for Later” (the pop skank), and The Pretenders “Brass in Pocket” (the unashamed joy and fun). This is groove infused ska to dance to on a sunny day.
The album opens with “Steppas Tonight.” There’s a mellow rhythm underpinned by ghostly synths, skanking guitar and subtle horns. Fittingly the opening bars of the song feel like a direct reference to “Ghost Town” by The Specials. It’s a good opening salvo, darker than the rest of the album as Christian growls deep in the mix that “this is the ghetto.” The vocals lean more towards toasting than singing on this track creating that sense of menace the lyric speaks too. It’s a musical line drawn between late seventies Coventry and through to modern ghetto living in the USA.
Opening with the organ that will carry the song through to its end “Girl is Mine” is about having to warn off suitors for your lady. There’s a classic ska here that takes you back beyond the defined influences of the band and deeper into the ska and reggae of the 50s and 60s, stuff that you would have dug up on Trojan Records and the like. The organ gives it the feel of Booker T Jones playing ska as it leads the track all the way through. Add in horns a guitar that chime out the rhythm and give the song that clipped ska feel and its near perfection.
“Lost in Love” continues the chilled groove of “Girl is Mine.” The track has a very loose-limbed groove with a cool sax solo in the middle.
That sax is prominent again in “Kiss Me, Kiss Me.” An enthusiastic plea from a man to a woman to recognise the love that he has for her. Even when he can see the “danger in her eyes” all he wants her to do is “kiss me, kiss me, tell me that you love me.” There’s an upturn in the beat here but we’re still in the mellow end of the pool.
Piano and cymbals combine to lead us into “No Way Out.” The bass comes in with the vocals to emphasise the rhythm and by the end of the first verse and chorus the whole band is in the mix. The track has some lovely vocal harmonizing on the chorus. However, it’s that musical motif played on the piano that sticks in your ear.
“Beatriz” is a total ear worm and I’d say that right now it’s my favourite track. For me that position was guaranteed by the glockenspiel intro. I have a great affection for the use of the glockenspiel in modern music. I blame Bruce Springsteen for that! The track conjures up sunny days and sandy beaches with its sweet love story. There’s a nice moment of dub in the bridge that woks nicely with the rest of the song has a more classic sound that suggests the music of the likes of Jimmy Cliff.
Dave Wakeling’s influence is front and centre on “Time Warp.” This is a track that would drop comfortably into an album by The Beat. That influence is carried over into the following track “Finally.” There’s more of a “pop” feel on this track about finally finding love.
There’s a nice dub style bass line that leads us into “Glow.” It’s a brief solo before the guitars and piano come in giving the song that familiar clipped sound that’s so associated with ska music. The “glow” the song refers to is that shine a certain type of woman has that makes them special. The song asks her to give us the secret of her “glow.”
We take a step back into the more mellow sounds of the opening tracks with “She Light Up Mi Fire.” Ghost Town Steppas are so in love on this track. It’s a hummable tune that will seep into your ears in increments with each play of the album. It’s arms gently skanking by your side as the music soothes and warms your soul.
You’re yanked from the mellow sounds of “She Light Up Mi Fire” by an organ, drums, and a driving bass that reminds me of the opening to Hall & Oates “Maneater.” Another ode to a woman this time the song comes from someone who longs for the woman of his dreams and persistently tells her “you know that this is love.” There’s a more urgent tempo to this and it lifts things up as we approach the final track on the album.
“The Wanderer” wraps things up. It opens with a guitar refrain that put me in mind of The Jam’s “Butterfly Collector.” It another swaying the arms skank and wraps up the album nicely.
“!From Da Frontlines” is a chilled way to spend 45 minutes. Ghost Town Steppas do everything right on this album, so, full credit to everyone involved in putting this together. It’s respectful of its influence but it’s not copying them and creates its own space and feel over the twelve songs.
There are other influences hinted at on the album and in the band’s own You Tube channel where they give credit to the eighty’s films of John Hughes* for creating the soundtrack they grew up to.
The Wanderer ask whether anyone is listening of if anyone even cares. Based on the songs contained in “!From Da Frontlines” it’s time we did care about and listen to Ghost Town Steppas.
The 2022 mix of the album is available on Spotify under the title “Front Da Frontlines”.
The new 2024 mix is available on the bands You Tube channel under the Title “!From Da Frontlines”.
*For anyone who also grew up with the John Hughes movies there is an excellent boxset of the songs that Hughes handpicked to appear in those films called “Life Moves Pretty Fast: The John Hughes Mixtapes.”