Red Army Album Review

Traditionally reggae has had either religion or politics as its driving force, which is understandable when it’s viewed as an outlet for the oppressed people of Jamaica. Lately though, reggae has tended to be subverted by the middle class and has been churned out in an easy listening format, almost a reggae-lite, more commonly associated with BBQs, beaches and beers.

Melbourne’s The Red Eyes take us back to a time before the bastardisation of reggae with their latest album Red Army. This is reggae as it sounded in the Jamaican heyday of the early 80’s; warm tones, lots of reverb, and a (slight) revolutionary bent wrapped up in a professional package.

Frontman El Witeri brings a New Zealand flavour to the album, with an introduction in Maori and a song touching on the exploits of Riwha Titokowaru during New Zealand’s land wars.

There were moments on the album where I’d get confused between songs; there is a lot of similarity between some of the tracks, and at 15 songs long there’s a lot of them, but this is a problem common to a lot of reggae and shouldn’t detract from enjoyment of what is a pretty damn fine display of local (well, Australasian) reggae. 

So if you’re a fan of well made reggae and are looking for something a bit different check out Red Army and keep an eye out for the Red Eyes when they’re over our way.