THE FLYING HATS - Forced Exposure

Last Updated 07/25/2026 07:31 PM EDT

LOG IN
CART

Cart Items :

Sub Total :

New Releases

Labels

Jobs

THE FLYING HATS 5 Titles


Artist	Title	Format	Label	Catalog #

FLYING HATS, THE	Ups	CD	ATA RECORDS	ATA 046CD
$16.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 9/4/2026 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 whatsoever. The album arrives little more than a year after debut long player The Return of the Flying Hats and mere months after the release of an instant classic 45 single featuring non-album tracks "The Blender" and "Hot Cakes." So 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 riddim 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, reveling in deliriously joyful Hammond melodies and funky backbeats, while maintaining that offbeat reggae rhythm. "Kick About," "Double Up," and "Market Day" provide up-tempo 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.

Artist	Title	Format	Label	Catalog #
FLYING HATS, THE	Ups	LP	ATA RECORDS	ATA 046LP
$29.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 9/4/2026 LP version. 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 whatsoever. The album arrives little more than a year after debut long player The Return of the Flying Hats and mere months after the release of an instant classic 45 single featuring non-album tracks "The Blender" and "Hot Cakes." So 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 riddim 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, reveling in deliriously joyful Hammond melodies and funky backbeats, while maintaining that offbeat reggae rhythm. "Kick About," "Double Up," and "Market Day" provide up-tempo 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.

Artist	Title	Format	Label	Catalog #
FLYING HATS, THE	Traffic Light/Bust Up	7"	ATA RECORDS	ATA 047EP
$19.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 6/5/2026 Building on the momentum of their acclaimed debut The Return Of -- championed by FIP Radio --The Flying Hats return with a 7" featuring "Traffic Light." Expanding their signature blend of flying cymbal reggae, irresistible hammond organ and analogue funk, the track captures the band's evolving sound. The 7" is completed by "Bust Up," the band's explosive NOLA-inspired funk cut from the debut album.

Artist	Title	Format	Label	Catalog #
FLYING HATS, THE	Blender/Hot Cakes	7"	ATA RECORDS	ATA 037EP
$19.00 IN STOCK ATA Records presents the latest release from The Flying Hats. Following the buzz surrounding their debut LP and the soft limited pre-release of "Blender," anticipation for this single has been huge. The Flying Hats return in phenomenal form with two previously unreleased cuts of the highest caliber. Both tracks strike hard somewhere between Kingston and New Orleans, as if The Meters were channeling Jackie Mittoo or Sound Dimension were jamming with Jimmy Smith.

Artist	Title	Format	Label	Catalog #
FLYING HATS, THE	The Return Of The Flying Hats	LP	ATA RECORDS	ATA 040LP
$29.50 IN STOCK Every ATA project is marked by collaboration -- some over a few weeks and some over decades. When drummer Sam Hobbs and bassist Neil Innes decided to make The Return Of, by The Flying Hats, they were building on twenty years of playing together; Innes's years of nightclub residencies and love of Afro-American dance music, and Hobbs's intensive exploration of the links between American soul and R&B, Jamaican rocksteady and roots, and the music of the wider Caribbean from Cuba to Trinidad and Brazil. Organist Bob Birch (the original organ player for New Mastersounds) and guitarist Chris Dawkins (Nightmares On Wax, Jimi Tenor, David Holmes, Finlay Quaye) were the other crucial elements -- Birch started out as a jazz Hammond player in the bluesy McGriff/McDuff mould before discovering the more exotic colors of Art Neville and Jackie Mittoo, and Dawkins has been a session guitarist for the cream of British reggae and rock for a generation. The Return of the Flying Hats occupies a space somewhere between The Aggrovators and The Meters, under the influence of Lynn Taitt & the Jets, and Fatman Riddim Section. Tracks like "Grafter" and "Bust Up" conjure up the image of classic New Orleans funk recorded in Kingston, whilst "Tough Swagger" sounds like half of Bunny Lee's Aggrovators have dropped in at "Ultrasonic" to jam with Ziggy Modeliste. In other places the Jamaican sound predominates: "An Autumn Sun" is as sweet a dish of Kingston soul as you could wish for, "Strong Fish" an honest homage to Hot Milk-era Mittoo, whilst the introductory fanfares of opener "Night Bus" and "Power Cut" feel like they should be ushering in hot I Roy cuts. Meanwhile, "Iron Fist" mixes everything up together in a fresh brew of asymmetric drums, talking bass and free-flowing organ melodies: when Innes and Hobbs started jamming together they roughed out melodies to every groove, but Birch came in and ignored virtually every note, preferring instead to simply channel extempo lines that sound both original and traditional at once. It would be a mistake to call this group a new band, with all the communal miles they've travelled together: what this undoubtedly is though, is a fresh take on a couple of cherished genres (New Orleans R&B, Instrumental Rocksteady) that comes up with something more than the sum of its parts.