Hög Standard is the album where Peps Persson takes the full step to include Afro pop and reggae in his R&B and blues based music. No Swedish artist, not even himself, were ever again to combine these styles in such a successful manner. While failing to impress the dominating ideological groupings during the ‘70s, the lyrics are very political and dwells on solidarity with the third world and low wages. Nonetheless many of the songs are joyful, almost with a gospel feel to them, without having much in the style connected with gospel music. The title track "Hög Standard" has become a nation-wide classic, and is a reggae with crying horns in minor, accordion and call and response singing. On "Upp Eller Ner" Peps Person does the choruses by himself, but on the other tracks the band members take turns doing backing vocals and playing percussion. Brynn Settels, original member of Peps Blodsband plays organ and Rolf Alm's bass has a central role in the reggae numbers, and in the stomping reggae-blues "Djupt I Mitt Hjärta". Most of the songs are written by Peps Person, among them the weird cocktail reggae "Den Grundlurade Generationen". The even weirder "Persson Ifrån Stan", written by Peps Persson's father Anton Persson, shows influences from folk music with accordion and market square singing, and is one of only two weak spots on the album – which does not mean the song lacks charm. The second weak song is "En Och Tjugofem", written and sung by Rolf Alm who do not have the expressive voice of Peps Persson. In 1992 the album was re-released as a CD.
© Lars Lovén /TiVo