Being the first new band in thirty years to sign to the mighty Trojan Records a couple of years back is fairly impressive credential I think you’ll agree. But then again the Pama International ska/ rocksteady/ soul collective’s revolving line-up is a virtual who’s who of classic rocksteady/ ska movers and shakers of the last few decades. In fact they’re kind of like the antidote to UB40. I Still Love You More plays atypically ‘on’ the beat rather than off it however, and emphasises their sunnier, soulier, pop side as they rope in mod-commando The Bongolian a.k.a. Big Boss Man organ-tickler Nasser Bouzida. I wonder if now’s a good time to point out that it does bear a passing resemblance to Good Enough by nineties indie-poppers Dodgy though…The release date is 29 March 2010 and the seven inch format includes a dub of the heavy-skankin Equality & Justice For All on the flip.
(PRESS RELEASE) Following their support slot on The Specials 30th anniversary tour, Pama International continue to promote the release of latest album ‘Outernational’:
PAMA INTERNATIONAL – Outernational tour pt.2
February 2010
19 Luton Hat Factory
20 Bournemouth Champions
26 London Brixton Hootananny +DJ Wrongtom
27 Bristol Start The Bus
March 2010
06 Frome Cheese & Grain +Dub Pistols
12 Exeter Phoenix +Dub Pistols
13 Plymouth Hippo
19 Southend Chinnerys
20 Harlow The Square
April 2010
02 Darlington The Forum
03 Leeds The Well
29 Belfast Black Box
30 Blaenau Ffestiniog Cell
May 2010
01 Hereford The Blue Rooms
02 Swansea The Garage
08 Labadoux Festival, Belgium
14 London Jazz Cafe
16 Bearded Theory Festival
28 Hebden Bridge Trades Club
29 Kelso National Scooter Rally
July 2010
17 Llangollen Festival
August 2010
11 Broadstairs Folk Festival
13 Vintage @ Goodwood
14 Boomtown Fair, Buckinghamshire
Now I’ve looked into it a little, there seems to be some confusion about when the new Sharon Jones LP I Learned The Hard Way is due for release – a matter possibly compounded by the fact that the first single to be released off the album is the title track. As a slave to funk it wasn’t so much a duty as a compulsion to follow the trail of confusion through a succession of blogs (including one called monkeyboxing.com) where I discovered claims for a release date of 5 April, 4 May, 5 May, and 6 June, among others. Eventually, heading straight for the Daptone website itself, I discover a post that states, “Get a sneak peak of the album and download the title track “I Learned the Hard Way” – immediately followed by the words “Coming April 6th 2010.” ….Er…right…so is that the LP or the single then? Daptone Records – hot on authentic golden funky soul, not so good with plain English. Still, while you wait for the single (and the LP) on vinyl you can always download (the single) below from Daptone Records. They only want your email off you and where’s the harm in that…?
First single on the highly anticipated Freeway/ Jake One collabo on Rhymesayers 
Admittedly, it’s not like Get A Bit More was the monkey’s favourite track off recent FB LP The United Colours Of Beggattron (that would be the mighty Seven Figure Swagger), nor even the monkey’s second favourite (which would be the behemoth-beats of Contact)…in fact checking back the MB 
