Vinyl | The Mercurials - Tend The Fire

They're in their thirties, so they were "too much too young" to have directly experienced the vibrations of the ska revival at the turn of the 70s and 80s, when The Specials, The Selecter, Madness and The Beat danced on the live wires of a socially overcharged England and sent brass missiles into the charts that reached all of Europe. Far too young, it goes without saying, to have lived through the original tremors of these nourishing Jamaican musics, those of 60s ska and its mutations into Blue Beat or Rocksteady, from which reggae drew its sap and fever. They are neither from Kingston nor Brixton but from Montreuil, "Paris suburbs", with the Mercuriales, those twin towers whose name they have anglicized to play on this dual identity, a French heart but a British soul, with a Caribbean extra. As evidenced by their rude-boy (and girl) looks in suits/ties, their perfect mastery of the vocabulary and studio science of yesterday's and yesteryear's pioneers, The Mercurials proudly carry this torch and they have a message for you: this music is alive, vibrant, invigorating as it was in the early days.
"Enjoy yourself" sang the Specials in 1980. 45 years later, the invitation is still valid, and how delightful.

Tracklisting:

Side A
1. FOR THE KIDS 

2. SEND SOME FLOWERS 

3. SWEET BABY BOY 

4. IN THE CLUB 

5. FIRE IN THE HOUSE 

6. OMNIA SUNT COMMUNIA

Side B
7. STUCK IN THE MIDDLE 

8. LONELY BOY 

9. (I DON T WANNA) TALK ABOUT POLITICS  Feat. Vic Ruggiero

10. TWO SIDES OF ME 

11. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME