I only first discovered this young group of Seattle based reggae musicians in September during the annual Bumbershoot festival held over Labor Day weekend. As a genre, reggae has accepted little adulteration over time. Reggae today sounds very much unchanged from the style of music that Bob Marley brought to the world's attention during the 1970's. Kore Ionz maintains that pureness of genre only allowing a tinge of outside influence. This band generates a very pure reggae sound sprinkled with a speck of hip-hop, a dash of ska and dub, and a small teaspoon of the ukulele laced Polynesian, the music of singer Daniel Pak's native Hawaii. Kore Ionz surprised many to rein as one of Bumbershoot's truly incredible acts. I saw many concerts over that weekend and would definitely say that these young men were in the top five if not the very best show of the entire festival. Unfortunately, Kore Ionz was the only reggae band signed to perform this year during Bumbershoot. I hope the event promoters change that next year.
Their new album, "World War Free" paints a genuine message of hope, whether out of naivety or fierce dogma. The radio friendly hit, "Love You Better", with the strong message of spreading love is experiencing heavy rotational airplay on Hawaii's big island peaking as the #1 requested song. From the tasteful wah-fuzz guitar sounds on "Belltown" and "Sweep Us Away" to the Polynesian ukelele on "Morning Son", the rap contributed by Prometheus Brown on "First Avenue", and the traditional reggae of "Marionette" and "Conductor", Kore Ionz peacefully conveys a message of loving others to encourage and inspire change in the world.
This group reminds me of something that I have not witnessed for many years. They not only want to generate great sounding music and achieve fame, they want to spread a message of non-violence, peace, love, and living in harmony with others and the environment. They want to change the world! It's refreshing to see this attitude that disappeared long ago as the hippies commercialized and capitalized themselves. Long from now, when Kore Ionz retires, the world will be a cleaner, greener, friendlier place if only in the lives of those that the individual band members touched personally.
Enjoy this clip of the band performing "Love You Better" live at Bumbershoot 2011
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