Have you even seen the weather forecast for this weekend? Brutal. It’s a good thing the folks at S/S Friends have got our back. If ever there were an ideal soundtrack for negotiating triple-digit peak summer days while keeping our cool, it would have to be Sean Bones’ outstanding new 7″ EP entitled Easy Street.

A throwback to the thick analog haze and squawking organs of reggae’s sound system heyday, Easy Street is the first season-specific release from S/S Friends, an erstwhile record label/clothing line based in Cobble Hill. Sound familiar? That’s because we first called attention to the project a little more than a month ago when summer hiatus was but a twinkle in Brett Favre’s eye.

Since then, we’ve gotten our sweaty hands on the EP and have got to tell you straight up - it simply rules. Side A features the EP’s title track and instantly delivers on Bones’ earlier description of the project as a “weird and winning study of early reggae styles and recording techniques,” marrying the lovely hiss of tape reels with cooing background vocals and chalky stuttering guitar lines in an upbeat ode to the city (listen below). Side B offers “Act So Casual”, which delivers on its title with an even more laid-back vibe and downtempo delivery than “Easy Street” before swelling into a memorable singsong chorus and instrumental vamp.

But lest you think the Kingston-cum-Brooklyn punky reggae party ends with the 7″, listen up: within Easy Street’s record packaging there are instructions for downloading digital versions of sides A & B plus two bonus songs, “Sugar In My Spoon” (which may be my current favorite) and “Death Can Jam” (head over HERE to buy the record plus downloads).

And as a further bonus to those who buddy up with S/S Friends on MySpace, they’ll be offering a free companion Summer Mix for download. It’s an amazing collection of 21 tracks that served as a laundry list of influences for Easy Street.

In the meantime, Sean Bones will be stopping by East Village Radio next Wednesday, July 23rd as DJ Damien’s special guest on “Peer Pressure”, where they’ll be talking more about the project and spinning many of the gems from the Summer Mix.

Listen: “Easy Street”

Visit Sean Bones and S/S Friends on MySpace.