It's great to see a continuation of great ska music coming out of New York. Not just "new" bands, but bands that are a few years old and have made past that early hump of hard times and personnel changes and have kept on working hard and rose above to come back with an ever more solid, tighter and musically forward moving sophomore effort! This is 'Royal City Riot' with their newest release and their first for Megalith Records, "Coast To Coast".

We were very excited to hear the new material and even more excited about the finished product. These are some great songs, straight out of the shoot on the first track, the band explodes in your ears with high energy soul music fully filled with ska roots. Solid horns and a steady organ rhythm backbeat. The sound is like dirty polish! The band has taken some turtle wax and shined up their sound but they used an old dirty rag found on the car garage floor and managed to make things dirtier than before! (that's a compliment by the way;) ). Although some might compare Jesse's vocal to the like's of the Slackers or The Stingers but he is by no means a copy cat, but very much deserving much credit for his own unique tone and twinge that I find a refreshing mix of New Yorker swagger with a pop sensibility.

The album has a nice solid 12 tracks that showcase the bands versatile stylings and depth of musical knowledge. Going from rocking soul to early rock 'n' roll, a bit of rocksteady and awesome open air ska grooves. I'm really enjoying the way a lot of newer bands are bringing in a mix of classic genres and mixing them into their own versions of ska. I think it shows that these 2000 era based bands are much more in tune with the roots of American rock 'n' roll and Jamaican influences than some of the bands that have come and gone in the past two decades. If you are already a fan of modern bands like The Pinstripes, The Dendrites, The Pepper Pots and Deal's Gone Bad, and classic bands like The Skatalites, Chuck Berry and Otis Redding, then you're are already a fan of Royal City Riot, you just don't know it yet!

Track List
The Rhythm
I Need Your Touch
Til' I Die
Keep Your Head Up
Nobody Knows
Longing For You
Captree Ska
Myrtle Avenue
Sweet Maria
Fire
I Should've Known Better
Coast To Coast