Culture’s debut album established the roots reggae group in their Jamaican homeland and in the U.K., where they were embraced by the rising punk movement. The delicious sunny-side-up melodicism, lazy horns, and languid grooves are as addictive here as their spiritual, social, and political insights are intelligent and poetic. The title song is a doomsday warning, “See Them a Come” rails against poverty, and “Pirate Days” is all about divine transformation. Lead singer Joseph Hill was a militant Rasta, and here he’s a street-corner prophet winning true believers.
