Riptiders - Vol. 1 (Self-published)

On this 9 track debut album, produced by Train To Roots keyboard player Antonio Leardi, the band alternates between English and Italian, conscious roots ('La Differenza'), lovers rock (the delicious 'Non Ho Maschera', 'Come Il Sole Sulla Pelle'), rocksteady ('Non C'è Distanza', which could easily become a summer hit) and dub ('DubFerenza', a dub version of the aforementioned 'La Differenza'). As can be seen in the accompanying clip to 'Non Ho Maschera' ("I'm not wearing a mask"), the members of Riptiders are fanatic surfers, also explaining the band's name (a "riptide" is a strong and often dangerous current that surfers like to look for). As far as yours truly is concerned, you can skip the songs in English, but among the tracks in Italian there are definitely a number of real gems. If they can just get over wanting to sing in English, we have an excellent Italian reggae band here!