NEWS: The Flying Hats Return!

All Ups. No downs. The Flying Hats return.

They say you’ve got to take your ups with your downs, but that’s only because ‘they’ haven’t heard Ups, the second LP by The Flying Hats, which is all ups and no downs. Ups arrives little more than a year after debut long player The Return of and mere months after the release of an instant classic 45 single featuring stand-out track from their debut LP, Bust Up, and the ridiculously irresistible Traffic Light taken from Ups. It’s fair to say that Ups finds the band riding the crest of an extremely funky Hammond-infused retro-reggae wave. Indeed, it’s tempting to say not just ‘riding the crest of’ but ‘increasing said wave’s actual mass’ – for the new set delivers a second floor-shaking helping of a sound that joins the dots between Aggrovators-style reggae and Meters-style funk.

Opener Lightning Bottle kicks off with an introductory drum-fill that briefly nods to a certain Dawn Penn classic before settling into a heavy, mid-tempo, Hammond-led rhythm, providing instant appeal for those who lean more towards the Bunny Lee/ 70s side of things. The same can be said of a trio of easy-rolling bubblers consisting of Pinball – a brisk number near the start of the album’s second half – along with the wistful beauty of So Long and Step Up, which close the album.

Those who prefer reggae that evokes the Kingston ‘Sound of ’69’, however, will salivate over the balance of tracks which deliver no fewer than five such cuts tempered with a fat slice of New Orleans sass, revelling in deliriously joyful Hammond melodies and funky backbeats, while maintaining that offbeat reggae rhythm. Kick About, Double Up and Market Day provide uptempo bounce, while the clattery syncopated drums on the stripped-back skank of Stout and the absolutely gorgeous Hammond-funky/ boss-reggae groove of Traffic Light provide something a little more loose-limbed.

If Allen Toussaint and The Meters had upped sticks and relocated to Kingston (or Bunny Lee and Jackie Mittoo had moved to the Big Easy) in the early 70s, it would have sounded like this. The fact that neither of those scenarios occurred is the early 70s loss and our gain!

The Flying Hats are the result of a collaboration between drummer Sam Hobbs (Work Money Death, The Lewis Express) and bassist Neil Innes (The Sorcerers, The Lewis Express, Work Money Death), building on over 20 years of playing together and a shared love of Afro-American dance music, soul, rocksteady and roots reggae. Completing the line-up are organist Bob Birch (original Hammond player for The New Mastersounds) and guitarist Chris Dawkins (Nightmares On Wax, Jimi Tenor, David Holmes, Finley Quaye).

Sadly, Chris Dawkins passed away in 2025, post-recording of all The Flying Hats material for this album and their debut, which means that the release of Ups (short for ‘bless ups’ and a tribute to Chris) is also a musical epitaph of sorts.

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