Ska Week: Westbound Train

Epitaph.com

The next feature this week will be that of Westbound Train, a reggae-ska septet hailing from Boston, Massachusetts. As with Streetlight Manifesto, these guys will be playing in Urbana on Friday along with Reel Big Fish and Suburban Legends. Westbound is quite different from the other bands in the show, and their sound is much more traditional.

Westbound's sound is a base of traditional ska with influences of reggae, jazz, modern ska, and even a bit of country. Lead singer Obi Fernandez has a way of entrancing the listener with his soft voice and legato singing, whether singing about love or revolution, in a soulful style reminiscent of Marvin Gaye.

Musically Westbound Train is more talented than most of the ska bands currently out there. The members met as students at Berklee college of music in Boston, so they definitely know what they're doing with the instruments in their hands, and this is evident in both the horn lines and the rhythm section.

I highly recommend these guys, as they have been growing on me more and more lately. Kyle and I got a chance to talk to the drummer for a while at a show over the summer and they seem like really cool guys and they put on a good show.

Here's a track from their 2004 release Five To Two:

Forever
for sampling purposes only, will be removed at copyright holder's request.


And if you like their groove check them out at purevolume.com or just talk to Kyle or me.