Through his work with
the Heptones, and his stint as a session bass player for
Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One in the late 1960s and early '70s,
Leroy Sibbles has been responsible for some of the most versioned rhythms in the history of Jamaican music. After leaving
the Heptones in 1977 following the wonderful
Lee "Scratch" Perry-produced album
Party Time,
Sibbles relocated to Canada, returning on occasion to Kingston to record, even reuniting with
the Heptones for 1999's Tappa Zukie-produced
Pressure! He also tracked numerous solo sides, including this set for producer
Bunny Gemini, which gives
Sibbles a '90s dancehall-leaning sound while managing to still sound enough like the old
Heptones to make it all click along about right. Among the standout tracks are the hard, dancehall-focused "Murder," the airy, bouncing "Come Rock with Me," and the ain't-this-the-
Heptones instant classic called "Unkind Girl." The end result isn't a
Heptones album, but at times it sounds pretty close to being one.