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3 out of (23) reviews

19 December 2006		By:Jahworks
Rating: B+ This is the reggae tribe that gave us the notable "Bob's Bar" a couple of years ago, and this time they bring David Hinds and Selwyn Brown of Steel Pulse along to sing the first and last songs, respectively. Those two tracks make great bookends, but the music in between is every bit as attractive, thought-provoking and entertaining. Adam Atterby, song-writer, lead singer and lead guitarist, was also the producer. This may make the album sound pretty much like a one-man show, aside from Hinds and Brown. But in his liner notes Atterby is quite right in praising the roles of all the other musicians involved: there sure is a bunch of them, and they're all over the place. Brass, djembe drum, string quartet, pedal steel guitar - these elements flow unpretentiously into the mix along with the basic line-up of electric guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. As on the earlier album Bamma B offers some lively toasting and someone called Internal Dread again adds a welcome bit of dub. Intricate percussion, harmony backing vocals, it's all here. So Atterby may be the main man, but the fusion of all these contributions is what gives the album such sparkle and presence; it has so much oomph that you'll fail utterly if you try to use it as background dinner music. The lyrical concerns are more or less typical of contemporary "conscious" roots reggae. On the more typical side, they take a firm political stance and attack inequality ("Through policies of brutality/Most of us are living in poverty"), decry environmental degradation ("I see rainforests falling down/Can you hear that rumbling sound?"), and provide motherhood advice ("So when you're carrying the load/Don't let it get you down"). On the less typical side, the lyrics cross the fine line from pessimistic to nihilistic ("Day by day/Slipping deeper and deeper into sedation/You fade away") before finally advocating faith as the way out ("There's no need for you to cry/Just put your trust in the Lord you will be allright") "Who is the enemy?" is a reflective, tuneful album. The attention to detail in the arrangements is matched by that given to the packaging: complete lyrics, full credits, striking design. The fine print even includes a statement to the effect that Urban Tribe raised enough money to rebuild and sustain Bob's Bar in Thailand, which had been destroyed by the tsunami and was the subject of the title song for their earlier album. Our thanks to the band for acting so concretely on their convictions. Thanks to them too for giving us this new album. Ted Boothroyd

19 December 2006		By:Reggae-Vibes
Vocals:4/5, Backing:4/5, Production:4,5/5, Soundquality:4,5/5, Sleeve:3/5 "Who is the Enemy?" is the second album of Urban Tribe, the Swedish reggaeband around singer, guitar player, composer and producer Adam Atterby. Their first album "Bob's Bar" was not only a classic roots album but also an attempt to help rebuild Bob's Bar, the reggae hangout on Thailand's Kamala Beach that was destroyed on Boxing Day 2004. Now Urban Tribe deliver the successor, distributed exclusively in Germany by Münster's Irie-records, the ever reliable shop, mailorder and distributor located in Germany's Nordrhein-Whestfalen but serving not only Europé's mainland but many oversees customers as well. Urban Tribe is a 12-piece outfit (including a great horn section and very strong female backing vocals) who follow the directions given by Adam Atterby with great melodic skills, resulting in a warm, organic sound throughout the album. Opening track "No Solution" features the fine vocals of Steel Pulse's David Hinds, on the first of many very convincing, lyrically socially engaged tunes, and the vibe is maintained with "Change the World" and in the uplifting "Save it for a Rainy Day". Urban Tribe's Trinidadian toaster Bamma B delivers a perfect copy of Shaggy's delivery and tone of voice in a very satisfying way, with Tobbe Eliasson's saxophone in a beautiful starring role as well. A ballad like "Murder" with its riddim having a scent of Bob Marley & the Wailers "Sun is Shining" and some wonderful piano by Frank Rönningen and the very fine title song "Who is the Enemy?" might musically sound completely different but thematically it's all very consistent and the quality of the muisc as well. "Wake Up" with slightly echoed horns over a fine roots riddim is a call to "open you eyes and see" (and fight against) the corruption and greed, followed by "Resist Them" where the horns again play a major role in a tune that musically comes very close to the better Lucky Dube tunes you once heard and "In Slavery" about the unseen chains of modern life, highlighting in the process once more the excellent female backing vocals and giving space to beautiful syncopated jazzy guitar accents. "Teach the Children" musically returns to the early 80s roots reggae in a fine way featuring the voice of Adam Atterby's very young son Rasmus and a splendid string-section before "Give Thanks and Praises" recalls early Aswad as musically and (backing-)vocally the high standard is maintained. This very fine second Urban Tribe album "Who is the Enemy?" is closed in great style with the indictment "Babylon" and it's beautifully semi-Nyahbinghi semi-acoustic "Babylon (Reprise)" featuring Selwyn Brown, another Steel Pulse member, over the choir-like backing vocals, strings and the underpinning great reggae riddim. 80s UK-roots and Lucky Dube lovers are obliged to check out this album, all others are recommended heartily to do so.

01 December 2006		By:The Beat (Chuck Foster)
Urban Tribe manifests a big, arena-style reggae sound on "Who is the Enemy?". It's as though they swallowed Steel Pulse, UB40 and Third World whole - guitars, horns, keyboards, backing vocals and all - and spit them back out on a set of all original material with socially conscious titles like "In Slavery", "Teach the Children" and "Change the World". In fact, it wasn't until my second listen-through that I realized that actually was David Hinds and Selwyn Brown on vocals (on opening cut "No Solution" and "Babylon (Reprise)" respectively) That will give you a good idea of the quality of this release from a Stockholm, Sweden-based reggae band that can clearly hold its own with the best. Snappy horns, tight female backing vocals and the essential components of reggae - guitar, drums and keys - brought to bear on message songs also in keeping witht the finest tradition of roots rocking reggae. Chuck Foster, The Beat