Night Owls (you know – the funky reggae supergroup side hustle of various members of L.A.’s The Lions and Roger Rivas of The Aggrolites) have finally dropped their second long player, Versions II, which like its predecessor compiles all thirteen tracks from the last year’s run of 45s and, as the name suggests, features reggae versions of soul classics of yore. Like with Versions, some of said classics are better-known material. Funky grooves Hercules and Cramp Your Style from NOLA’s Aaron Neville and Miami’s All The People respectively, The Flamingos’ doo-wop nugget I Only Have Eyes For You and Wendy Rene’s After Laughter‘ are cases in point though elsewhere choices go a little deeper – as with a cover of Darondo’s Didn’t I.
Arguably a slight switch-up from the set comprising Versions is that while the bulk of material again is formed from funky reggae covers, one or two cuts get a little dubbier. The Hollie Cook-featuring Didn’t I is one such, on which Cook gives her distinctive Minnie Riperton-gone-reggae turn in a blissed-out take on the original which, tonally, is a companion-piece to the Destani Wolf-featuring After Laughter earlier in the set. Cramp Your Style meanwhile finds N’Dea Davenport on vocals and it’s every bit as massive as you’d expect as well as being both the funkiest and most uptempo cut on the LP. But then every version at every turn works a treat on this, though I Only Have Eyes For You featuring Tippa Lee and Fishbone’s Chris Dowd, Herman Hitson-cover Got That Will featuring Gina Murrell and Ranking Joe, another Aaron Neville cover Tell It Like It Is featuring Asdru Sierra and the closer, a take on Eddie Kendricks’ If You Let Me with Jr Thomas on vocals are especially noteworthy. For the monkey though, one track still manages to stand even above even this excellence and it’s an inspired cover of Al Green’s Are You Lonely For Me Baby – another uptempo bump with an irresistible bassline and glorious vocal turn from Malik Moore. This LP is a gorgeous late-summer treat – here’s hoping there’s a Versions III sometime in the future.
(Out now on F-Spot Records)