EP Review: More Ace!

Veteran eight-piece Ska ensemble AceTones follow up from their 2015 self-titled debut with their latest 6 track EP aptly titled More Ace!, and it’s filled to the brim with skank’n grooves and crunchy horn lines.

Despite New Zealand’s long standing love affair with more contemporary ‘café dub’ and modern reggae sounds, it’s refreshing to hear a more traditional take on the influential sounds that would go on to inspire a multitude of bands and genres around the globe (such as the UK’s 2 Tone scene) over the following decades.

With this in mind and based on the foundations of those early Jamaican sounds prevalent throughout the 60’s, More Ace! features a fine cross section of styles and rhythms, expertly arranged and captured all while retaining a distinctly nostalgic tone threaded throughout the tracks, courtesy of The Lab’s Jol Mulholland at the controls.

Personal favourite Double Black features a heavy-duty instrumental arrangement of brass bedded on top of a solidly warm bass line, while trombone, keyboard, and guitar shine through with their own featured solos, embedding the pocket with ease provided by a tight drum and percussion backbone; the perfect backdrop to a hazy, late afternoon summer session.

Equally worth noting, Rolling Like A Trojan offers a more stripped down Rocksteady vibe featuring a uniquely delivered falsetto vocal performance; while Sonny Moon gets things moving and rounds off the release in classic Ska fashion, stacked with creamy organs, noodley brass parts, and an unforgettable set of walking double bass dropouts.