Tribal Seeds - Representing - new album 2014

21-06 | album review: tribal seeds - 'representing' (may 2014)

Tribal seeds Representing

The award winning roots rock reggae formation Tribal Seeds from San Diego, California released a true roots album called 'Representing'. A roots reggae album with guest appearances by Vaughn Benjamin, Mykal Rose, Don Carlos, Maad T-Ray, New Kingston, Gonzo and Kyle McDonald. A wide variety of musicians worked on this album on it shows!
The tracks are musically outstanding and all come with great and pure vocals. The Tribal Seeds are the next best thing coming from the USA and they are very much comparable to legends like Groundation. This beautifull roots album totally caught us by surprise and made a big impression. We never heard of this great band before but now we will keep a special eye out for them coming to Holland one day!

The first tune is the title of the album and is a spiritual track alongside Vaughn Benjamin (Midnite) called 'Representing'. This track includes a wonderful variety of instruments and musicians and would make a nice live performance for sure! 'Rock the night' is an up-tempo tune feat. Maad T-Ray. 'Fill it up' feat. Gonzo and New Kingston again is accompanied by some sweet music instruments and a little rocky flavor. 'In your Area' feat. Kyle McDonald is a reggae/dub track with some deep strings attached. 'Moonlight' comes with a deep roots riddim and some beautiful piano-play a track about peace of mind. 'Ruined' a sweet one about how love can ruin your world. 'Blood Clot' ft. reggae legend Don Carlos is one of the highlights of the album. A powerful collabo roots tune. We DO want more a that! 'Undercover lover' feat. Gonzo is next and easily lives up to the expectations set by the first tunes, again a wide variety of instruments. The baselines on 'Night and Day' are outstanding and 'Herb Stock' is featuring legend Mykal Rose.
You cannot stop the green according to the former Black Uhuru member and we couldn't agree more! 'Don't wait' and 'Lonely night' close a fine roots reggae album. Especially lonely night is a righteous closure tune for this album.

Conclusion:
The Tribal Seeds really made a mark for themselves with this album. Some of the tunes have the potential to become classics and we really hope to see this band live one day. The voice of the singer is perfect for this genre and it reminds us of another US roots formation 'Groundation'. We also fulljoyed the wide variety of instruments used forming the riddims. The music quality of some riddims on this album are outstanding. 'Representing' proves that quality reggae is a world wide thing and isn't just coming from the Caribbean. These musicians hailing from the USA are coming with a universal message and that's what reggae music should be all about.