While the U.K.'s
Bobby Kray came to reggae by way of
the Clash and
the Police, he obviously followed the genre all the way to Jamaica and became well aware of lovers rock and smooth reggae in the process. Even with the bold title
Tales from a Skinny White Boy, his debut album often goes safe and finds the singer becoming a Caribbean crooner with slow grooving backing tracks. During these cuts, his delivery is somewhere between
Dennis Brown and Kevin Lyttle but his falsetto sounds just like
Justin Timberlake. The blend comes off as more influenced by a cruise ship excursion than of a punky reggae party, but when
Kray isn't offering his heart in this faceless manner, his charisma shines through. The opening "Main Man" finds the singer living up to the brashness of his album title and strutting his stuff with an R&B hook plus a potent bag full of boasts. His cover of the Janet Kay chestnut "Silly Games" is just about as cool as it gets, doubly so if it's summer, and the good-timing take on "Bam Bam" makes it hard not to smile. Reggae veteran Dennis Bovell oversees the production which is polished and warm, but don't expect his pseudonym "Blackbeard" to show up with the low-end rumble. ~ David Jeffries