Seeing as how it is twenty years; give or take a couple of years; since the arrival and departure of Nirvana for some people reading this, you might be thinking who were Nirvana? Who was Kurt Cobain? Dave Grohl? On drums? Nah he’s the guitarist and singer with Foo Fighters. If that’s the case then what will that individual make of Little Roy’s ‘Battle for Seattle’, because for those listeners they won’t fall into the category of the appalled that their much loved songs have been touched, or those who see this as a respectful celebration of Nirvana’s music.

Some people may have to dispel the incredulous idea that there maybe music lovers out their who’ve never listened to Nirvana, certainly there will be many who have never got past the classic tracks that frequent the various satellite music channels (that’ll be Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come as You Are and Lithium then). Does the line “I swear that I don’t have a gun” from ‘Come as You Are’ sound more prophetic as you know how Cobain died, rather than the anguished, plaintive voice that reached those ears back in 1991?

Therefore, how do you approach a review of tracks that for so many are well known, to the extent that they probably know every word, every reverb of guitar, every thud of drums? It would be superfluous to provide a track by track deconstruction of what it sounds like. Do you remember the chorus from ‘Heart Shaped Box’ that goes “Hey! Wait! I’ve got a new complaint, Forever in debt to your priceless life”? Well word for word, including every yelp is all there. Remember how ‘Sliver’ ended with the repeated phrase “Grandma Take Me Home” well it is lovingly recreated here. What about that haunting reverbed guitar intro to ‘Come As You Are’, easy just play it on the organ, it is just as haunting – add the reggae beat and you are somewhere else.

Maybe that is the ultimate joy here; this is not a complete reworking of Nirvana tracks into a reggae beat and lyrical content. This is the wonderfully direct lifting of classic tracks and careful transpiration into something new. To be fair to Little Roy; and production duo Prince Fatty and Mutant Hi-Fi; they have been careful in their selection of tracks. It would; for example; be a complete aberration to even attempt to give ‘Territorial Pissings’ a laid back reggae feel. However by settling on studio albums Bleach, Nevermind and In Utero, as well as the compilation tracks that made up Incesticide; the trio has worked ten classic Nirvana tracks into something a little different.

Impressively ‘Battle for Seattle’ is a celebration as Little Roy’s vocals makes everything less brooding. The subtle replacing of the word “horny” with “happy” in ‘Lithium’ makes it a joyous track to hear and in fact is one of the first tracks that will make doubters realise that this project truly works. Those with long memories will remember that in episodes of the British TV show ‘Never Mind the Buzzcock’ guests had to guess the lyrics being sung and of course they would feature Nirvana, there would be no point putting Little Roy’s version on there as every word is clear and this lifts the whole lyrical mastery that Cobain had to a more appreciative audience.

In conclusion Little Roy, Prince Fatty and Mutant Hi-Fi should receive critical acclaim for what they have achieved here. For those who grew up and loved Nirvana and their music, then there is a respectful representation of that music in a different genre and that should be appreciated. For those new to Nirvana then you have the opportunity to hear some quality reggae music, based on some classic grunge music from over twenty years ago.

Here is the coup de gras though, Little Roy is in his sixties and until he recorded ‘Battle for Seattle’ he had never listened to any Nirvana! Now how incredulous does the thought that someone might be listening to ‘Battle for Seattle’ having never heard the originals?