Mixing reggae influences with political calls to action,
State Radio
offer up another slice of northeastern jam-funk with the band's third album,
Let It Go
. Released in 2007,
Year of the Crow
was a time-specific record, its songs targeting everything from
President Bush
's torture allegations to war-torn Sudan, but
is broader in scope, emphasizing general themes of toleration and peace without pointing many fingers at singular groups. As usual, the Cambridge natives embrace an amalgamation of genres -- most prominently reggae, ska, and punk -- and lace the mixture with touches of roots rock and Jamaican inflections.
don't concern themselves with breaking new musical ground, and even though the album sounds best at its absolute loudest (
"Held Up by the Wires,"
"Still & Silent"
), an emphasis remains on mellow jam band material. As with most
affairs, then,
creates the biggest stir with its lyrics, whose sociopolitical content challenges listeners to think as much as dance. ~ Andrew Leahey