Montreal Mirror - Stepper Way Out (independent)
Thursday, February 19, 2009North American ska is a tough thing to do well. There's nothing worse than hearing what should be an extremely tight ship sail sloppily through the emblematic chickaboom-chickaboom of a ska tune. Montreal's Stepper, thankfully, are anything but sloppy. The band is strong, the vocals clever, horns full and the vibe energetic.
Tunes like "Restless" and "Running From Home" are good fun and good examples of the fact that Stepper enjoy catchy power pop alongside their Specials. These guys are good enough - and this is saying something - that it would be cool to hear them try their hands at re-interpreting some classic foundation riddims. 8/10 Trial Track: "Running From Home" (Erin MacLeod) CD launch with Take the Boys at Petit Campus tonight, Thurs., Feb. 19, 9 p.m., $7
http://www.montrealmirror.com/2009/021909/disc.html
