Restocked! THE BANDULUS “Love A Woman” LP (random color vinyl)

Portland’s top traditional ska/reggae/soul powerhouse released “Love A Woman” back in 2019 on random colored vinyl, and we finally have it back in stock due to popular demand! In recent years the band has traveled to Europe for Germany’s Freedom Sounds festival, and lead singer Jeremy Pena will be part of this year’s London International Ska Festival.  The album features additional mix and overdubs by THE SLACKERS’ Agent Jay Nugent, and is produced by Curtis Irie and Jeremy Pena!  Features a guest appearance by CHRIS MURRAY.      Tracklisting:  A1 Stop Playin’ With My Heart   A2 Break The Ice  A3 Dear Lord  A4 Am I A Good Man?  A5 Mr. Bad Luck  A6 Flash Flood  A7 Stay True
B1 Love A Woman  B2 Money Man  B3 Two Times  (Featuring – Chris Murray)   B4 Truth   B5 Another Lie  B6 Smile (Discomix)
Check out this great review from Punknews.org:

Traditional ska? Check. Skinhead reggae? Yes. Northern Soul, Motown, Doo-Wop and Lowrider Jams? Uh huh. Rocksteady? Absolutely. Dub? Why not! How about girl group style background vocals plus the most sought after touring keyboard player in ska today? You’d better believe it.

If it sounds like I’m describing an entire festival’s worth of talent, Portland’s The Bandulus are not only one of the most versatile but also one of the most underrated rocksteady/soul bands out there today. Hitting every note of hooligan subculture with their high energy blend of what they call a “smorgasbord” of Jamaican throwback tunes mixed in with crooning slow dance belters plus hand clapping Northern Soul movers, their under the radar 2020 release Love A Woman is the sort of album that begets staple status almost instantaneously to any devotee of mid century music.

Love A Woman immediately makes you want to move with it’s first two tracks, both an uptempo soul and skinhead reggae song respectively, featuring some of the most impressive organ playing on the entire LP by the “Boss” keyboardist of the moment, Esteban Flores of Catbite, Mamatoska, Mr. Kingpin, We Are the Union and many, many more. (The Bandulus also features core member Anthony “Fat Tony” Cotham, who alternates duties with Flores) Shifting from a Little Richard style rock n’ roll piano on “Stop Playing With My Heart” to the distinctive boop boop BAP skinhead reggae beat in “Break The Ice” – by the time you reach track number three, their nod to traditional ska with the pleading lyrics of “Dear Lord”, you realize multifacetedness of The Bandulus as they undulate from rocksteady to motown to R&B then back again.

This is… one of those albums. Cleaning the house or making pancakes on a Saturday? Put it on and turn it up. New partner’s parents coming over and want to play something everyone will like? This is the one. Is your boss in the car and you want to create easy small talk? Ding ding! Having friends over to pre game and don’t want anyone to fight over the playlist? The answer always circles back to Love A Woman, The Bandulu’s third studio length album well known in hardcore ska/reggae and soul circles, but still fairly relatively unknown to the greater punk community at large.

Great for fans of The Slackers, The Pietasters, Deals Gone Bad, Amy Winehouse, and The Inciters, The Bandulus is a 7 piece act whom I stumbled upon watching a livestream concert during the thick of the pandemic. Set up in a backyard, the no frills set knocked my socks off as the combo of lead vocalist Jeremy Pena and powerhouse dual background singers Leah Farmer and Emma Bitter blew me away with their throwback set of Trojan Records era inspired rocksteady/ska mixed up with high energy 50’s-60’s style soul and slow dance inspiring ballads crooned by Pena.

 

Order Love A Woman

• LP vinyl (random color) @ $20.00
• Cassette Tape @ $8.00
• Both LP + Tape (save $5) @ $25.00

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