Rootz Radicals ADD

Review

Review: Rootz Radicals - Lian Outta Den

02/07/2015

The Rootz Radicals from Regensburg, Germany? Not only had I never heard of them before, I wasn’t surprised to never have heard of a German reggae band of that name and burst out in laughter when I was asked to review their debut EP Lian Outta Den for Reggaeville. The band’s choice of name combined with the small town they come from seemed to indicate strongly enough that this project could never go anywhere, unless it was pure comedy.

As it turns out, the five people the Rootz Radicals consist of are much more serious about their music then they were when picking their stage name. The band formed in 2011 after singer Uno Jahma, guitar player Christian Moll and bassist Henry Shell had left Steel String, another local reggae project that had gotten some attention in south-eastern Germany and a bit beyond.

The three founders teamed up with drummer Benjamin Feldy and keyboard player and multiinstrumentalist Thomas Eibl and recorded Lian Outta Den in their home studio. The EP comes with six tracks of modern roots reggae with a somewhat urban touch.

The titles of the tracks as well as the topics they deal with are what you expect from a band that calls itself Rootz Radicals and releases an EP with with title Lian Outta Den. Jah loves you, we’re all beautiful together no matter where we come from, smoke some ganja while you’re meditating, love is the solution, and war doesn’t lead anywhere, that’s the message summed up in brief.

The group’s choice of language for their vocals is, of course, Patois, and it surprises no less that one is left wondering whether English or German might have been more credible choices. However, it is the band’s approach to playing music and their understanding of what reggae is that made me rethink my initial assumption.

Whether it is the hip hop inspired synthesizer intro to Medi Pon Di Ishens that gives way to a rocky guitar line, or the Arab-inspired melodies on Israel–this openness is rare for such cliché young European reggae projects, and it stands to hope that the Rootz Radicals find and define their own style that eventually sets them apart from the plethora of comparable projects. In the meantime, listen to Lian Outta Den in full length here on Reggaeville and form your own opinion.