Common Kings - Lost In Paradise (Island Empire Records)

On 'Lost In Paradise', already the band's third long player to date, we heard the meanwhile well-known mix of reggae, pop, rock and r&b most Californian reggae bands have made their trademark; a sound we'd like to baptize: surf-reggae. The track list of 'Lost In Paradise' contains a mix of ganja tunes (the original 'Mary Wanna', of course an ode to the green herb, but also a song about the search for true love, and 'License To Smoke', in which lead-vocalist Sasualei 'Junyer King' Maliga rejoices over the newly introduced legalization of marijuana in California), quite a few love songs ('Take Her', at the same time an ode to the tropical island paradises where the band members of Common Kings were born, the r&b of 'Stretch', 'Everybody Wants To Fool The World', 'Speaking My Language', closing track and break up tune 'Wide Awake'...), and reality tunes like 'Run', the acoustic 'Pray' (hoping for a better tomorrow), and the infectious title track 'Lost In Paradise', about disappearing from the radar to escape the daily grind. Amateurs of American reggae will no doubt also embrace Common Kings, but we can imagine others will find 'Lost In Paradise' just a tad too poppy.