Reggae for SoCal beaches

Reviewed November 2009

Deeper into the Jamaican groove than, say, San Diego ska veterans like Buck-O-Nine or Skanic, Drive By Jones dilutes its reggae not with the punk sounds so popular with SoCal ska bands, but with straight-ahead rock – they're closer to Madness than they are to, say, Sublime.

Bassist Shaun Richardson and drummer Ty Kiernan have the reggae beat down solid, and singer Bryan Steele has a distinctive voice.

Most importantly, the five songs here are all accessible and radio-friendly (particularly the very catchy "V-Rex"), the mix of ska and rock making for a nice beach sound.

Review by Jim Trageser. Jim is a writer and editor living in Escondido, Calif., and was a contributor to the "Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD" (1993) and "The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Blues" (2005).