Artist:     Roots of Creation

Album:     Grateful Dub

Label:     Controlled Substance

Release Date:     4.15.18

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Instead of scrawling a barely coherent mash note on wrinkled rolling papers to an iconic band they truly worship, Roots of Creation fashions a joyous, blissful love letter to the Grateful Dead out of smooth, colorful reggae, bouncy ska and spacey dub on the engaging covers album Grateful Dub. Somewhere, Jerry Garcia and Bob Marley are smiling, especially since Marley’s engineer, five-time Grammy winner Errol Brown, helped shepherd the project to its conclusion.

In transforming a batch of some of the Dead’s most revered songs into sunny, vibrant cocktails of intoxicating world music, the likeable reggae-rock outfit employs relaxed, sometimes choppy, rhythms, an abundance of electric and acoustic guitar techniques, cosmic electronica and bright, well-arranged horns. Purists wishing for more organic authenticity and street-tough grit might take issue with the studio record’s clean, modern production. Bathed in light, a summery version of “They Love Each Other” that sways in the breeze could convince them to see things differently, as would the buoyant, sweaty workout “Deal” is put through. “Casey Jones” chugs along much as it always has, perfectly locking into a reggae groove that it has longed for all these years, but the gospel character of “Black Muddy River” is baptized in deeply soulful waters, “He’s Gone” leans more toward UB40-like pop and R&B, and “Sugaree” is lost in a hot, wah-wah reverie of echo-laden, bluesy psychedelia.

Among the more unexpected delights is a languid, swinging reworking of “Friend of the Devil,” with its simmering organ and celestial guitar effects, while the darting movements, smart pace and liquid sounds of Roots of Creation’s reimagined “Shakedown Street” make for an alluring listen. The product of youthful exuberance and surprisingly tasteful instrumentation, Grateful Dub works hard to win over doubters.

—Peter Lindblad