Jr. Thomas & The Volcanos – Rockstone

It’s a musical letter to everything I love

– that’s how Jr. Thomas described what the second Volcanos album means to him.  To put it into more mundane words – what we have here is a set of ten incredibly atmospheric melodies maintained in the very best rocksteady & reggae style. I guess you can compare it only to the memorable Frightnrs record from  two years ago.

To encourage you even more to listen to “Rockstone” I’ll mention the lineup. If bands like Aggrolites, Hepcat, See Spot, Expanders, Inciters, Western Standard Time or even JD McPherson come to your mind while reading a list below – you’re not wrong and this amazing set of musicians shoud speak for itself here. With this rank of crew, the product has a really good chance to by extremely luxurious.

Jr. Thomas – vocals/guitar
Brian Dixon – rhythm guitar
Scott Abels – drums/percussion
Chiquis Lozoya – bass/backing vocals
Dan Boer – organ/piano
Raynier Jacildo – piano/backing vocals
Zac Pike – lead guitar
John Butcher – backing vocals
Alex Desert – backing vocals
Brian Wallace – saxophone
Tom Cook – trombone

Traclist:

1. What A Shame
2. Chin Up
3. Mr. Harriott
4. Til You’re Gone
5. Rockstone
6. Brian Wilson
7. 2nd Time Around
8. Phony Ones
9. Cold Smiles
10. Forever

In the last week of October “Rockstone” reached number 1 on Billboard’s reggae albums chart, and I’m pretty sure it’s gonna stay on my personal ranking’s top for a very long time. It’s available as limited lava and standard black vinyl, cassette, CD and of course in digital format, e.g. on Spotify.

Collectors might also be interested in limited 7” Chin Up/Spellbound released in september.

You should still be able to find it here and there.