The Aggrolites Spread The Gospel Of Dirty Reggae

Bands always name-drop influences for credibility. What's worse is when some brag about how they almost touched their favourite bassist or how they leaned on his gear (with 400 other people crowding the stage) at last year's Warped Tour. It's worse than a gaggle of giggling groupies.

This is why many groups probably hate Los Angeles' The Aggrolites with a passion. While they dream of a mere glance from their idols, this roots/ska/soul quintet is the band who inventors, innovators and champions seek for support when in town. In fact, while many consider it a stroke of luck that guitarist/vocalist Jesse Wagner, bassist J Bonner, keyboardist Roger Rivas, guitarist Brian Dixon and drummer Korey Horn backed Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong on his recent solo effort, that's actually pretty low on their scale of achievements. They've been performing with their heroes since 2002.

"We all played in reggae and ska bands at a time when none of the historic bands were able to tour," says Wagner. "A lot of old-school Jamaican dudes would want to come to town, but they'd need a band.

"We'd back 'em up. That's how we got to know each other. We were just being band whores, playing with anyone we could. We fell into working together through a few projects and jamming."

The quartet were a "band" before they were The Aggrolites, but they realized that their combined chops had more to offer than remaining a collection of pick-up musicians backing Prince Buster or Derrick Morgan.

"No one was playing this style of reggae or ska for years, and we thought, 'Why not bring it back for fun?'" says Wagner. "It started with local gigs, then when we found out we could go to Europe on a free vacation we thought we'd try it full-time. Five years later, here we are coming back to Canada on tour again with our third album."

They must be enjoying themselves. Hellcat's recently released Reggae Hit L.A. is almost an afterthought as Wagner discusses influences and musical appreciation. It's not secondary to fans, however, who've been rabidly gorging on the group's solid, rock-steady rhythm and melodic chime despite the overall tepid state of reggae and ska in North America.

Yet without self-aggrandizing, Wagner notes that the tide has been turning. Bands with names such as The Aggrobeats and The Aggroboss are popping up around the world, offering their take on what The Aggrolites refer to as "dirty reggae" — a blend of '60s ska, reggae and soul. Still, despite their increasing popularity, Wagner and crew are humble and still come up against flack now and then.

"We didn't become instantly popular, that's for sure," he admits. "To this day, we'll be playing a show with, say, The Dropkick Murphys, and people don't know what the hell we are.

"They look like at us like we're fuckin' idiots. Either that or they hear we're a reggae band and they walk away saying, 'I thought they were gonna play more reggae.' We're not a reggae band... not a revival one at least. We're a gateway band that shows you where the influences come from. It's honest, but it's dirty... dirty reggae."

Here are The Aggrolites' Canadian tour dates:J

uly 31 Montreal, QC @ Cafe Campus
ug. 1 Toronto, ON @ Mod Club
Aug. 2 Guelph, ON @ Cowboys
Aug. 29 Cortes Island, BC @ Gorges Hall
Aug. 30 Vancouver, BC @ Red Room
Aug. 31 Victoria, BC @ Sugar