NST and the Soul Sauce are back with their sophomore release entitled Back When Tigers Smoked. It is a fresh batch of roots and dub from the reggae powerhouse out of Seoul, South Korea. Throughout 12 tracks, the band shows off their love and knowledge of all Jamaican music while keeping their feet firmly planted in East Asia.

From listening to this, or any of NST and the Soul Sauce’s offerings, it’s obvious the members are true students of roots reggae. There are delightful Korean touches sprinkled throughout: Kim Yul Hee sets the mood on Red Tiger with a soulful and trance-inducing Pansori (traditional Korean opera) croon over the top of a Sly and Robbie-like groove; Kwaengwari (traditional cymbals) crash at the peak of Farmer’s Funk: and, front-man, NST’s whiskey and cigar growl drips Korean warrior-poet swagger throughout.

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