Rokkatone

Rokkatone

In This Life (Grover)

As rock steady is to ska, so is RokkaTone to the Stingers ATX. Jonny Meyers and Wayne Myers syncopate their latter band's walking basslines into reggae's romantic precursor with groovy panache. Aaron Lack's steel drum, Laura Phelan's toy piano, and Myers' backbone trombone and melodica give In This Life its Caribbean lilt, matching Meyers' tropical belly rub. The guitarist remains a better songwriter than singer, his delivery often sounding like a demo vocal guide, but his 13 originals boast an ease with the form straight out of Studio One. As such, all songs should be 2:30 tops – short and sharp, like "Take This Guitar" – instead of pushing four minutes and beyond, sometimes stretching the ragga out past its sweet spot ("She Like to Smile," "B-ware"). Spot on: the elephantine tuba-esque of "Missing You Too Much," clip-clopping "Elements," Myers' soloing in "Come Home," and Meyers singing "Banks of the River." Myers Rum, hurry.