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What if I tried to listen to all my music-in order? Every song, on every album, by every artist (alphabetically)- in chronological order. ...

Friday, July 6, 2018

The Aggrolites

If there is one defining feature of this wicked-fun reggae band it is that they are so consistently awesome. I didn't really hear a Single or a particular stand out track on any of their five proper albums, but that's not meant to be an insult. It is because every single song is equally fantastic and entertaining. I never got tired of hearing them, even when they lingered on my phone for months before I got around to blogging about it.

Their other defining characteristic is that they are so shockingly authentic sounding. I can't claim to be all that familiar with old-school reggae and dub, but what I have heard sounds remarkably similar to this stuff. It's fairly impressive how fully they embody dub in their song structures, instrumentation, singing style, and even recording aesthetic. (Allegedly, their debut was recorded in a single day of all first-takes.) Then again, maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about or listening to when it comes to reggae. (I enjoy reggae when I have the opportunity to listen to it, but-- Bob Marley? That's pretty much all I got.) This musical blind-spot may have been confirmed when I recently heard that their newest album is going to be a "return to the sound of the earlier albums." This was perplexing to me, having discerned no significant difference between their first song and their last. Their lack of prolificacy is actually a boon. While they only have five albums, plus a live one, all are extremely good albums full of great songs. I have difficulty identifying the best one. However, if forced to choose I might select their 2006 self-titled-non-debut, despite frustration with the lackluster title. (Their most-recent fourth album is sadly entitled IV.) Their conciseness helps make them a damn-near flawless band, or as close to flawless as any rock band can get. Are they better than Pink Floyd? No, not really. But when a band has over a dozen albums there are bound to be a few clunkers in there. Not so with The Aggrolites, even though they've been around for 15 years at this point. Every. Song. Rocks.





Is this ska? Is this reggae? The band is born as a re-formation of a ska band and a reggae band from LA that both broke up, so that clears that up. They call it "dirty reggae," which alludes to the funk and soul influences. It does get extremely groovy. I wouldn't call this a ska band (their are only rarely horns), but they play the ska circuit. Special hat-tip to my friend who gave one or more of these guys a ride to some ska festival - and they were super-cool!

We might particularly appreciate the great vocalist, Jesse Wagner, who also plays guitar: nice when he needs to be and nasty sometimes too. The vocals are raw and unrestrained, with some of the lyrics being just the title of the song or some improvised shouting. There are occasionally nice backing vocals too. Who doesn't love shout-y male-female vocals? Even though the band is all guys, they get the audience to sing along (even on some studio tracks) and shout things out: Pop the Truck! Spelling out the band name on their theme song!  Reggae Hit LA! My only weird complaint is that he often yells something or other random on even the most sparsely-worded song; otherwise so many of these tunes would have ended up on my exclusive, and frequently-played wordless playlist.

A special nod goes to the keyboardist here, Roger Rivas, also a founding member and songwriter. There are keys on every song, and every organ sound selected is just perfect for each song; each song gets just the tone it so desperately needs. It varies appreciably between gravelly roars with just enough distortion, to delicate and warm sounds, and even some great synths. It really ties the songs together and keeps them interesting.

I should probably have listened to the album they made as the backing band for Tim Armstrong (of Rancid and Operation Ivy), but I will when I get to T. They've put some stuff out on his Hellcat records. Their best known song is the titular "Dirt Reggae" from a Hellcat compilation. In fact their genesis is traced to backing up reggae icon Derrick Morgan, whom I had to google and had not appeared in my music library. Their other popular track is "Work To Do," because it was on the soundtrack to the film 50/50, but it would fit well on a party playlist or a children's mix. Again, I love it, but they are all great songs.

The live albums make me want to see them live. It sounds so raunchy and joyous. The opportunity to yell back things is always fun. Plus they recreate live this absolutely fantastic musical trick wherein the song starts (as do the album and the live performance) with a steady funk beat that than morphs smoothly into a soulful reggae beat. It's sick, and you don't have to like reggae to appreciate it, but being a musician will help. Here's a decent example of it from YouTube:



So, yes they are skinheads. But the good kind! 

It's been a few years (since 2011) since they release fresh material. I am ready for more, and eager for the chance to see them live outside their native California. Dirty reggae!