It hasn’t quite been the eight years that elapsed between 2011’s Rugged Road and 2019’s Reggae Now but the seven year wait from then until The Aggrolites’ new LP has certainly seemed like forever at times. I mean – you’d be hoping for something super atomic after that long. Happily though, here is a brand new Aggrolites LP – coincidentally entitled Super Atomic – to reward the patience of the faithful with a new helping of dirty reggae. Dirty reggae? Yep – that’ll be a term coined by the band themselves (after which their debut was named) for their take on the grittier side of Hammond-drenched 1969-era reggae, beloved of early skinheads (the fashion ones not the fascist ones) while boasting, in Jesse Wagner, a frontman possessed of a rich 60s-style soul voice. Yet despite the obvious musical similarity to the output of various European-based outfits (e.g. Mango Wood and the now defunct Caroloregians) beloved of early reggae fans, the Aggros’ predominant fanbase over the years has puzzlingly continued to be those with an ear to the punk scene. We could ponder the reasons for that all day long but what you really want to know is – does the new LP have the desired explosive effect?
It’s an eleven-tracker so not their shortest long player (that’ll be Rugged Road) though it is somewhat briefer than Reggae Power and far from their longest effort to date. Still – quality not quantity. Four of the tracks are instrumentals or almost instrumentals. Of these, 31 Atlas and the title track are among the faster tempos on the album and both open with a classic One Step Beyond-style vocal introduction. Run Come Reggae and closer Happiness are slower with a more lilting groove and while the former tends towards a sunnier, Jackie Mittoo-ish melody courtesy of the band’s organ player supremo Roger Rivas, the latter offers something appealingly mysterious. There’s also non-lyric vocal cut Boots On The Terrace which probably works better in sunny California than in the UK. Based around a jaunty ska tempo (unusual for the band) the title evokes the spectre of a skinhead/ football hooliganism crossover and the group-sung “Da da-das” do nothing to dispel an image of pissed-up blokes in a pub with ‘Engerland’ tattoos pre-or post-rumble.
No-early reggae fan could have the slightest complaint with Live By The Code however which is precisely the strong opener the band needed after their lengthy studio absence, delivering a lyrical tale of the honour to be found on the streets over a classic uptempo Aggro riddim. Duck Pon Pond is slower number with sweet vocal harmonies, Back Lock Tight is an irresistible groover ironically providing an anthem for anyone who has experienced lumbago while another anthem can be found in Loud Loud Love which, despite the title, is not about noisy sex but partners with voices like foghorns. All that just leaves the two singles. Till The Wheels Fall Off is dirty reggae at its finest celebrating a ‘sleep when you’re dead’ philosophy that’s probably essential when you’re touring as much as the Aggros do while second single Musical Muse is Wagner’s sweet paean to lyrical inspiration. Long may it continue. Super atomic? Apart from Boots On The Terrace, the geiger counter’s off the chart!
(Out now on Pirates Press Records)