If it’s possible for a band to sound like they’re having more fun doing what they’re doing I’d like to know about it, for Reggae Workers Of The World seem to have had an absolute blast making their third LP which comes no fewer than eight whole years after last effort RWWII. But when you understand RWW is not just a supergroup but an international supergroup with one member on the western seaboard of the U.S., another on the eastern seaboard and the third in Europe, you can imagine that scheduling joint collaborations might be a bit of a mission. So you’ll be glad that Nico Leonard (The Caroloregians/ The Utopians), Vic Ruggiero (The Slackers) and Jesse Wagner (The Aggrolites) have got back together again because this is once again an object lesson in classic songwriting.
As with the previous two LPs, the ‘reggae’ of the title refers more to the musical backgrounds of the band’s members (whose day jobs are all in bands that play early reggae, rocksteady and ska) than a statement of the album’s generic content. Not that you won’t find reggae or proto-reggae material on here but you’ll also find nods to rock n roll, soul, garage-punk track and even tango, though that said, the balance is arguably tipped slightly more towards reggae-related material than on its predecessor.
The opening trio of cuts are all certified earworms. Ticking Time is an appealing slice of soulful rocksteady with Ruggiero on lead vocals, as he also is on the bar-room R&B of the title track while both vocalists sing in tandem, Beatles-like, for J’En Suis Fou (I’m Mad For It)‘s suitably energetic, alternate-lyrics ska-cover of Love Me Do. Wagner’s on lead for Busy Beaver, another slice of soulful sixties R&B with a rather smutty line in innuendo while the pair trade knockabout lines on the mento-ish Psychomatic Symptoms a song about hypochondria that probably shouldn’t work on paper but is a surprise highlight. It’s briefly all about the rock guitars on 157 Wardour Street‘s Clash-like celebration of the 70s UK punk scene before reversion to mellower business on the sweet sweet reggae of the Wagner-led Saudade(Melancholy) and the gently rolling tango-tinged Horace which finds Ruggiero on lead once more wryly considering the game of love. The final trio consists of the jaunty rocksteady and ska of Venus (Wagner vocals) and Oil & Water (instrumental) respectively and evocative closer If I Should Stay (Ruggiero again) which also revolves around matters of the heart. It’s a strong finish to a strong LP and one that’ll have you more than prepared to wait another eight years for the next one.
(Out now on Badasonic Records)