Innocent Youths : Earth, Roots & Water : Review : Rolling Stone

Toronto, like London is home to a sizable West Indian community, so it's not surprising to find a reggae band based there. What is surprising is finding one this good. Earth, Roots and Water were essentially the house band for Summer Records, a local operation with a studio wired by Jamaican dub pioneer King Jammy that hosted reggae heavyweights like Jackie Mittoo. One could easily mistake Innocent Youths, released in 1977, for a lost Kingston classic: Floating on a cloud of dub reverb, with most of its songs extending past the six-minute mark into deep studio space, the record is long on slo-mo instrumentals gilded with the sublime, Augustus Pablo-style melodica of future dancehall hit man Johnny Osbourne. The songs address boilerplate Rastafarian tribulations, although the dreamy girl-group pop of "Love the Same Old Way" and the socio-political soul of "Lou Sent Me" show the North American side of a unique vision. The band never made another full-length album, alas, but the crate-diggers at Seattle's Light in the Attic label deserve props for reclaiming this one.