After their full coverage of classic albums from both
Radiohead
and
Pink Floyd
, the collective known as
the Easy Star All-Stars
go way back to the band and the album that pretty much changed everything. The accent, as always, is on the
Easy
part of the band's name, meaning this easy-skanking tribute to
Sgt. Pepper's
flows effortlessly, never getting caught up in overly ambitious detours or ridiculously huge arrangements. Tracks like
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
with guest vocalist
Frankie Paul
"Within You Without You"
with natural mystic
Matisyahu
have slick studio touches, but the heavy lifting is left up to the performances, and both guest vocalists are perfect choices who simply nail it. Having been on the road frequently the previous two years pays off, as the players are suitably loose, creating grooves that feel natural and alive. The ever growing importance of the horn section comes to fruition as they shrink some of the original album's elaborate arrangements into smaller packages, ones that could be imagined in a live setting or -- in the case of
Ranking Roger
's
"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite"
-- at some wicked ska-fueled pool party. The warm voice of
Michael Rose
closes the set on a dubby
"A Day in the Life,"
a cover version drenched in reverb with a clever imitation of the locked groove gibberish found at the end of the original
Pepper's
LP. ~ David Jeffries