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Best Pure Reggae Experience: The Itals

Ital means ‘pure’ or ‘natural’ in Rastafarian patois and, as much as any reggae vocal group to emerge in ‘70s Wesmoreland, Jamaica’s Itals have embodied that ideal. Set to snaking guitar lines and spongy, occasionally dub-inflected beats, the trio’s Tightly woven harmonies have for more than three decades been reggae’s answer to Black gospel quartet singing and doo-wop. They sing to lift the human spirit, but as their version of their ‘70s hit ‘Brutal Out Deh’ at the What Stage on Friday revealed, an acute awareness of suffering and oppression lies just beneath the surface. Midway through their set, in fact, lead singer Keith Porter wryly observed that while white dreadlocks were everywhere to be seen at Bonnaroo, there was a time when he could’ve been arrested in Jamaica for wearing his in public. Brutal indeed.  ~ SPIN Magazine