Judgement Day

Following Wolverhampton and Wolverhampton in Dub, the Black Country's finest reggae outfit return with a new album and a modified name to avoid any confusion with another Capital Letters currently plying their trade. This version boasts The Selecter's original drummer, Harrington Bembridge, and Capital Letters' original vocalist, JB Granville Brown Jr, who penned ten of the album's 13 tracks. He may not have quite the gravitas nor the ‘natural mystic’ quality of roots reggae icon Winston Rodney, but on the deep and heavy opener, ‘Follow Rastafari’, the title-track and the excellent ‘The Roots’, the signature sound recalls later-period Burning Spear. The last-named track, ‘Mother Africa’ and ‘Too Much War’ all wind down to convincing dub-wise conclusions, while the lighter, melodious ‘Parents' and the album's sweet closer, ‘Cinderella’, have the distinct feel of Culture (responsible for the classic Two Sevens Clash album). ‘Dem Affi Pray’ takes us back to the days of ska, and the charming ‘Miss Urseylou’ and ‘Your Heart and Mind’ add a little rocksteady to the mix. Altogether, it's sufficiently varied and invigorating to suggest that this version of Capital Letters could go the distance with Bristol's Black Roots, say, in a UK heavyweight retro roots reggae contest.