The Aggrolites reviewed
The Aggrolites
Reggae Hit L.A.
(Hellcat)
Reggae has suffered in America because of the spector of Bob Marley and later the stereotyping of Caribbean music for tourism purposes. Its vastness has been dialed down to stoner music and lame island jams, and The Aggrolites aren’t gonna take it anymore.
On their multi-front war, the Los Angeles band also confront that West Coast pariah: ska punk. One of the popular arguments supporting The Aggrolites (the name’s a synthesis of “aggro” British punks and The Skatelites) is so-called ska punks either lost the plot or never had a feel for it in the first place, resulting in Green Day with horns. But that would seem to cast The Aggrolites as ska jihadists, which, on Reggae Hit L.A., they’re not. The album’s not a modernization, but a sampler of old Kingston sounds from the ’60s, including but not limited to Lee “Scratch” Perry, Alton Ellis, and Desmond Dekker. Just as likely to throw an organ-colored instrumental like “Hip To It” out as a soulful crooner like “Let’s Pack Our Bags,” The Aggrolites finesse their reverence for the masters with a well-heeled sense of a good time. This is a No Skanking zone.
— Steve Forstneger
Click here to download “Free Time.”
