The Next Generation

Groundation are a reggae group who formed at Sonoma State University in 1998. The original members were all studying jazz and the lead singer, Harrison Stafford, went on to teach a history of reggae course. After a three-year hiatus, Stafford has returned with a remodelled Groundation. As a band they are a tight unit, employing complex horn arrangements (as one would expect from jazz students) alongside overblown hard-rock guitar workouts (as many American bands often love to do). The strongest songs are socially conscious – ‘New Life’ is about refugees looking for a safe place to raise their families – and a sense of humanity informs the album. Yet there are weaknesses: Stafford has a thin voice and the female backing vocalist, when allowed to step forward, has far more engaging pipes. Groundation sonically follow a very similar format to that Bob Marley & the Wailers applied on their late-70s albums. Stafford is nicknamed ‘The Professor’ – he is one, after all – and, at times, it feels like he is lecturing. The Next Generation is engaging and workmanlike but with a little more imagination in their approach to songwriting and sound, Groundation could do great things.