When ska arrived in America in the nineties, it lost its Jamaican roots and rude boy energy with the influence of The Specials, Bad Manners, The Selecter and The Beat largely stripped in favour of clean and cartoonish pop punk with horns. The Aggrolites are LA’s best corrective to this disaster, and their latest studio album Super Atomic wears their influences with pride.

The Aggrolites’ early records were deliberately raw, distorted, and clipped like they were recorded in a tin can as a conscious act of reclamation, whereas the production on Super Atomic is crisp with very element clearly audible. This is entirely to their benefit, because the band have spent decades on the road sharpening their live chemistry, and the production allows you to hear it this time.

Jesse Wagner’s deep and earthy vocals are full of soul, with a delivery that draws from soul and ska simultaneously, equal parts James Brown and Toots Hibbert. With enormous character and commitment, he sounds like he’s having the time of his life on every single track and the joy is contagious. Organist Roger Rivas’ keyboard work is a constant source of delight, sometimes treating the instrument almost like a drum kit in the same way as Vic Ruggiero of The Slackers.

There are five members of The Aggrolites, but the band’s commitment to the funk and constant interplay of little licks and hooks recalls the strict cohesion of Parliament-Funkadelic or Tower of Power, with a dedication to creating a collective groove. Even though this is emphatically ska, reggae and rocksteady there’s also a clear funk philosophy that runs through every track.

Live By The Code opens the album with beautifully funky keys that are an absolute joy. Boots On The Terrace is a rude boy ska skanker that could easily have come from Bad Manners or Prince Buster, and 3I Atlas could be the kind of Madness interlude where Suggs leaves the stage and hands it to the band for a few minutes. Back Lock Tight sounds like classic Jamaican ska with Jesse’s vocal performance clearly influenced by Toots Hibbert, and Till The Wheels Fall Off is an enormous standout that uses three vocal patterns in call and response to create a busyness that feels like you’re listening to a much larger ensemble than 5 people.

Super Atomic is tremendous fun and impossible not to dance to, with instrumental tracks throughout that shift the focus to the organ, and every single song would work perfectly on a dancefloor, whether from a DJ or played by The Aggrolites themselves. Breathing new life into the original ska sound, The Aggrolites always knew exactly who they were, and they’ve never sounded better than they do here.