Music: Cool Cats

These days the skittery, danceable Caribbean musical genre known as ska comes in many forms, from the often entertaining punk-ska of groups such as Unwritten Law and Mephiskapheles to the chart-topping pop-ska of outfits like No Doubt. That's why Right on Time (Hellcat/Epitaph), a new album by the Los Angeles-based group Hepcat, is so refreshing: it returns the sound of ska to the warm Caribbean harbor of its origin. This isn't music for slam dancing; instead, Right on Time features songs for romance. The tracks on this album have the lean, classic lines of old Motown records: the vocals are clean...