Travelers All Stars – reggae fatties with yellow laces

Of course, we’re all waiting for Travelers’ debut longplay, but two 45’s should satisfy your need for instrumental skinhead reggae from Mexico, at least for now. I have to admit, these guys know how to dose us with pleasure. Since they released their debut single last year in French label Cigale Records, they were mostly focused on playing gigs. As I obviously approve live shows and all, being in Europe it’s, let’s say, moderately satisfying. The only new thing I recall during this year is the absolutely ingenious music video for “Don’t Give Up” in which RudeMaker’s crew had a pleasure and honor to play a small part.

Oh, I’m sorry, there was also a kinda bootleg demo tape published on YouTube. Six great songs from almost a decade ago should put you in the right mood before listening to this year’s premieres.

Travelers All Stars – Yellow Laces / Another Life

The first of two new singles has been available since last Monday, once more on Cigale Records. I really hope that cooperation between Travelers and this French label will bear more fruits of such a great taste in the future including an awaited by many band’s visit in Europe. On the A-side, we can listen to “Yellow Laces” which is the essence of the sound that makes us all love this Mexican crew. Pretty much everyone who gets what yellow laces are all about will happily dig into the best keyboard sound of South America. Ok, ok, I won’t swear blind but I’m they are certainly my favorite.

“Another Life” on the B-side is no worse, and it brings some freshness with a kinda funky opening. You’ll be pleased. If someone declares himself as a skinhead reggae fan, he should obligatorily add this record to his collection. There isn’t a lot of music of comparable quality being created nowadays. I’ll just add that I already received my package and I assure you that both tunes sound even better on vinyl than on the video below. 525 pieces were pressed and if you want one you must visit Cigale Records website.

Travelers All Stars – Reggae Gordo For Days & Extra Days!!!

The second 45 will premiere tomorrow. It will be released by Mexican label Chez Nobody Records. What’s interesting, that very much like Cigale Records it’s also a brand making its first steps into the publishing business, despite 5 years of experience. “Reggae Gordo” is gonna be the third single in their catalog. You might now “Sweet Loneliness” (side A) from a great compilation “Birth of the Fourth Wave of Ska” released two years ago. As far as I know, this tune was composed much earlier, somewhere around 2012. As I know it by heart, I’ll spare you my delights and will just say that it didn’t get old and surely it’s as perfect as the day I heard it for the first time. Well, I have my suspicions that it will sound even better on vinyl.

After flipping sides, you’ll hear “Space Invaders”, which to me is a complete surprise. It’s not easy to keep track of the Mexican skinhead reggae scene from Poland. I try to be vigilant, but I can’t rule out that I simply missed it before in the sea of other exciting topics. As I don’t know many hookups so great as the one between science fiction and reggae I’m willing to take it blind. The short clip from the publisher’s page seems to confirm the validity of my high expectations. If you still have any doubts I’ll just add that the one responsible for mixing this record was one and only Roger Rivas himself.

The vinyl will be available on pre-sale since July 1st at Chez Nobody Records bigcartel shop or band’s bandcamp profile. 500 pieces will probably part quickly but you gotta be especially fast if you want to catch some collectibles. There will be 100 pieces with a woven patch depicting a fat guy from the band’s logo, the reggae gordo himself. More than that, 69 discs will be put inside an arcade die-cut cover. I’d encourage you more to this purchase, but I’m gonna order it all and I’m gonna be first! So it seems that nothing has changed since last year’s premiere. Travelers All Stars are still my favorite contemporary band which I have never seen live and I’m still on fire just thinking about them. Reggae Gordo!