Reviewed by Tony Cummings

East Coast American reggae lives! And this attention-grabbing debut from the Bloods is so stunningly authentic sounding it's a salient reminder that reggae is today an international language and not simply limited to those living in Kingston, Jamaica. These guys hail from Manton, MA and make a rootsy, joyful noise. Maybe the acappella intro title track (where the duo sound uncannily like Toots Maytall) is a little esoteric for popular tastes, maybe "Power" suffers from some suspect pitching and a corny hook but when they bring in the delicious Regina Wingate (remember her 'Priceless' that Awake brought us recently?) or the ragga delight "Big Him Up" the effect is utterly breathtaking. Lyrically there are some refreshingly up front declarations of faith peppered with the J-word while their acappella version of "River Of Babylon" captures the spirit of the wonderful Melodiens' original rather than that cringeworthy mega hit by Boney M. The guys appear to be wearing bin bags on the cover pics so they clearly need the cash. Buy this one if Christafari has whetted your appetite for gospel riddims.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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