Tim Ritchie (ABC Radio National) 2009

This bottom end is heavy stuff... great cd and mastering will blow some systems,,, and I still get a feel of the days of bygone bliss...


Tim Ritchie (ABC Radio National) after hearing Roots Pop Reggae

Aidan Roberts, Inpress 2009

King Tide have crystallized their niche in the music world, starting out as a collective jam band and progressing to a fully-fledged, slickly-packaged reggae powerhouse that are taking the festival circuits by storm. What could uncreatively be described as ³Byron Bay music² is a potent and vibed-out blend of Marley-esque sunny ska, 70¹s soul and a very Australian melodic pop sensibility. Despite a lot of samey-ness, this album showcases what they¹re capable of well. Tony Hughes¹ squeezed, husky vocals are the centrepiece of the ensemble, his flambouyant posturing and socially attuned lyrics speak to us like the voice of a weedy pastor, revelling in the immense gospel sounds created by the band. This being their fourth album, it¹s a detailed and glossy affair ­ produced by the three mainmen Hughes, Paul Snatch and Ross Fotheringham themselves, they seem happy in the kaledoscopic blend they¹ve concocted. The catchy-as-hell Life Boat swings, and sure-fire crowd pleaser Rockers Style sways. There¹s even a touch of Marvin Gaye in the lilting Wake Up. These guys know they¹re onto a good thing, and their buzzing fanbase should keep them afloat for a long time, continually wooed by their overtly positive mantras; ³we got everything we need in the palm of our hands, we just got to keep on lovin¹.²

***1/2




Martin Jone Rhythms Magazine 2009


Sure, there are plenty more dreadlocked surfers with too much time on their hands thinking reggae is cooland, so easy to play bro!, than the world (and especially yours truly) can stomach. King Tide are different. Yeah, they surf, and yeah, they play reggae. But they have roots. Not only in the music they celebrate, but in their musicianship. This is a collective of vast experiences whose members have made committments to master their instruments and it shows in the intricacy of this album's arrangement.

And though many in the roots 'scene'use the term 'pop' as a derogatory term, King Tide employ it to promote the fact that they actually crafts songs, rather than just jam endlessly on two chords in clouds of smoke. Lead singer Tony Hughes, in particular grew up in the UK in an era when reggae was one of the most prominent, and indeed popular, forms of pop music. King Tide is the latest of a long line of rocksteady/ska/reggae outfits for Hughes. With its colour and energy, it also happens to be the most successful.

With Hughes sounding like he was born and raised in Jamaica, and backed by guns like drummer Terepai Richmond and a full horn-section, Roots Pop Reggae delivers what it promises, and in irrestable fashion. From the moment the catchy Atomised bounces to life, the hooks come rich and thick, aied by some world-class production quality, courtesy of Hughes and fellow band-members Paul Snatch and Ross Fotheringham.


Anthony O'Grady, Australian Newspaper

ROOTS Pop Reggae is King Tide's third CD and its most accomplished blend of rock steady beats, pop, soul, electronica and ska. King Tide is the final mutation of the heady acid rock of the early 1990s when D.I.G. (Directions in Groove), Swoop, Caligula, Def X and Skunkhour defied the prevailing grunge and Oz rock four-on-the-floor template to venture forth with bold, individualistic blends of infectious melody, electronica and funk-soul. It ruled Sydney inner-city dance clubs for three or four years, then subsided. Main men are MC-singer Tony Hughes, from late 90s funk-dance outfit Bellydance, and toaster Paul Snatch, previously with hip-hop outfit Large Rabbit and pop band Radio Freedom. The two vocalists enjoy the backing of a nine-piece ensemble that pours peerless musicianship into sublime grooves. Players include gun drummers Terepai Richmond and Declan Kelly, guitarist Ross Fotheringham, a four-piece brass section and keyboardist Robbie Woolf, who steps up to the microphone for one of the album's standout tracks, the high, sweet soul lament Anyone Could Tell. It evokes the glistening sorrow of Smokey Robinson's falsetto. Mostly, though, Roots Pop Reggae is infectious melody welded to sinuous rock-steady dance rhythms. Atomised is Hughes's melodic account of how the soul of music is passed through generations. Keep on Lovin' is traditional roots reggae embodying the optimistic message that love can yet save the world. Sun Machine uses programmed beats as a platform for an adventurous simulation of the stimulation of summer days. Chemical is a Paul Snatch rave-up that looks for and finds reggae's DNA in disco nursery rhymes. Beggars Waltz is soul contemporised with electronic brass flourishes. Rockers Roots takes Hughes back to his childhood in Britain, awed and floored by Millie Small's pop-reggae smash My Boy Lollipop. From Reg Mombassa's vivid cover art to the frolicking music inside, Roots Pop Reggae is a rarity: dance music that leaves messages in one's ears, one being to check the gig guide to see when King Tide is next playing live.

4 out of 5 Stars