The Expanders – The Expanders (Reissue – Expanded Edition)

Sadly, after years of playing it in the car, around the time that COVID hit it became stuck in the cruelly-overworked CD player and was only liberated with a pair of pliers – which rendered it unplayable. So yes, I am biased, it is just so good to hear it again!

The songs are catchy and firmly in the tradition of the three-piece vocal group tracks around the end of rocksteady and the early years of reggae – try Moving Along or the mid-70s sound of Follow It. Think of outfits like The Ethiopians, The Gladiators, The Mighty Diamonds and The Heptones. The original set was recorded on analogue tape over several years, and mixed by Jay Bonner of The Aggrolites. The result was, and is, a beautiful album, a modern reggae classic.

This reissue is indeed expanded, with the addition of dub versions that appeared on the Merciless Dub album, with plenty of reverb and tape delay, and The Ground, a previously unheard track from these sessions. It is indeed wonderful to hear this music again, and to hear the related sounds added to the dozen tracks of the original release – it still sounds so fresh. And if you have not heard them before, do get this – I envy you the upcoming experience.