Irie Lion - Rock & Come In EP (Self-published)

Front man of the band is lead vocalist Arnaud Bastin aka Babbajah, who honed his skills MC-ing for sound systems like The Roots Corner Soundsystem or 18 Inch Soundsystem. In 2015 there was already a self-titled debut EP, now followed by this 6 track 'Rock & Come In'.

Opener 'Save The Children' stylistically reminded us somewhat of UK roots bands from the beginning of the nineteen eighties, the catchy title track 'Rock & Come In' is without a doubt the absolute highlight in the track list, 'Jah Never Fail' has too much of a white ska-band thing going and the same goes for 'What A World'. We could be mistaking, but we doubt whether many Belgian reggae bands have dedicated a song to Marcus Garvey, so with 'Marcus' Irie Lion definitely score points for originality, and with up-tempo closing track 'All Aboard' the Vilvoorde based band could convince us as well. Even though not all the songs on 'Rock & Come In' can convince, the EP contains enough potential to make Irie Lion a band to keep an eye on them.