It’s a good day for ska fans! Time to shine up your dancing shoes, pick your head up, and give tomorrow another whirl… (Today!) with this fresh new Jamaican beat about mulligans coming at you from Athens, Greece.
The Contenders are a soulful rocksteady band, originally conceived four years ago by two friends in Vathis Square, as a side-project. Since that time, their evolution has evinced itself in each new addition of colorful instrumentalists to the roster, providing eclectic melodies down to the jazzy roots. They’ve been picking up a bit of steam since 2017, when the current band line-up cemented itself into form, playing shows, and working with Vincent Fiorello (Less Than Jake) to release the new EP, “Jes Grew” on Paper + Plastick Records, out October 26 on flexi-disc. Order that phonosheet here.
The band came up blending legacies, the likes of Sam Cooke and Otis Redding with the sounds of the rudies. Decidedly coming into their own around 2017, with the current swinging seven-man line-up complementing each song with sexy trombone solos and saxophone arrangements. The Contenders have received a bit of industry love, of late- not to mention the love of the crowds for their intimate and lively performance- and we’ve got the exclusive first-take of their newest single “Double or Nothing” below… right in time for all the ghoulies and Frankenstein-folk to start skanking and mashing down your neighborhood street. I mean… I do it every Tuesday. Enjoy!