ARTIST: Managers
How do you fit themes of love, jealousy, karma, anti-war and planetary annihilation into an 18-minute reggae, ska/rocksteady EP?
Leave it to Auckland-based stalwarts of Aotearoa-Ska, Managers.
Turning their ears and talents to producing a roots/reggae piece of work, Managers have delivered a mellifluous, riff-laden "roots" gem, entitled The Grove St Tapes, while retaining their tounge-in-cheek signature style.
This bittersweet 4-track EP was written in the basement of a Grey Lynn flat, recorded at The Lab by the band's sax player Tom Anderson.
The sound and tone of the Grove St Tapes was inspired by Virgin Records' short-lived sub-label, Frontline Records and has captured the unique 1978-1980 Jamaican production similar in sound and composition to The Gladiators, Culture, Sly Dunbar and the Abyssinians.
The cover artwork (painted by drummer, Simon Frost) is symbolic of the band's endurance and renewal throughout its two-decades tenure. A Kiwi take on the ancient 'ouroboros' symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail, the artwork was inspired by track two "What Goes Around", a lyrical message about karma both good and bad...
