After taking a quick look at the liner notes as I gave the CD a listen for the first time, I was blown away by the line-up he got for the album. It was a who’s who of the New York and New Jersey ska scene. With the likes of Victor Ruggiero and Agent J from The Slackers, Victor Rice, Sugar Minott, Dr. Ring Ding, Rocker T, Obi Fernandez from Westbound Train, Dave Hahn from David Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7, and Dub is a Weapon. The list goes on and on. It definitely makes for some high expectations for the album.

If you have heard/own any previous releases by King Django, you will notice that each one if pretty different from each other. Roots Tonic is no exception to this. In all honesty, this is my favourite album of the bunch. A close second would be King Django meets the Scrucialists.

King Django pulls influences from all over on this album, and so one can’t label it as just a “ska” album. It is primarily reggae based with what I’d call “dancehall” styled vocals.

My favourite track on the disc is Too Many Things. The soft sounding trumpet throughout the song is what does it for me. It isn’t just the trumpet though; the vocals are more appealing to me in this song. Another one of my favourites is Rock and Come In. The way Dr. Ring Ding, and King Django go back and forth works out really way. The backing instrumentals are sure to make you groove to the beat. I could definitely see this being a hit at a live show, with both vocalists go back and forth, and the crowd singing along to “Rock and Come In” at the various points throughout the song. The backing vocals in Lyrics Architect are a really nice touch to the faster, more aggressive sounding vocals in this song.

One thing this disc has done has made me appreciate the dancehall sound more. Maybe I should give JFK and the Conspirators another try.

Standout tracks: Fistful a Riddim, Too Many Things, No Trail, Rock and Come In, New York Neighbors, Wayfarer’s Prayer

I feel this disc proves Django’s material is just as impressive as his resume. Hopefully he’ll come back up to Canada soon, and get a much better turn out than at previous performances. Go buy the disc; it should be a part of any serious ska/reggae collection. It can be bought at Bacteria Buffet Records (Winnipeg), Stubborn Records, or Jump Up Records. All fine record labels if you ask me.