Album: Easy Star All-Stars, First Light (Easy Star)

An album of original material by the NYC posse best known for their skankifications of the rock canon.

It's as if they've taken their fancy-dress costumes off and come as themselves. How do they look? Like a supra-competent, glossy roots band with an ear for a melody. Late-period Matumbi spring to mind. Tricky. If this were 1979, we'd be welcoming a new addition to the rootsical middle ground; in 2011, it's as if they've shown up after the party's over. Talented though.