I admit it; I have a soft spot in my heart for British roots reggae. When I first started listening to reggae, groups like Aswad and Steel Pulse and lesser-known acts Misty in Roots and Black Slate helped instill my love for the music, and I'm forever in their debt...and in debt in general, because I spent a butt-load of money. Still, I can dry my tears with Don't Call Us Immigrants, a nice, if under-realized, little collection of tunes from the formative years of British roots. As Adrian Sherwood points out in the liner notes, UK reggae was often seen as "soft" and not legit by reggae purists who poo-pooed the R&B stylings of what became Britain's signature sound, lovers rock. Even today, roots isn't the first thing you generally think of when you think of UK reggae, and this is where Don't Call Us Immigrants proves valuable. It may well be the first compilation of British roots, and who better to do it than reissue masters Pressure Sounds? It's no coincidence that this brand of roots helped bring me into reggae as a whole; it's well-suited to genre newcomers accustomed to strong melodies and high production values. The Jamaican sound of the '70s can be more grimy and raw than mainstream listeners are used to -- with looser, more folksy, chanting melodies. And while this album does showcase a kinder, gentler sound in tunes like the airy "Where Is Jah?" and the -- shock -- lovers of Matumbi's "The Man in Me," Pressure Sounds chooses a fairly edgy selection of tunes, forgoing some of the more well-known cuts from Aswad and Steel Pulse in favor of "It's Not Our Wish" and "Nyah Love," respectively. Black Slate's "Sticksman," meanwhile, is much less bubbly than their hit "Amigo." Of course, being unexpected doesn't necessarily make these songs great; surely, they're not the best that these acts have to offer. Still, there are some strong cuts on Don't Call Us Immigrants that aren't well-known outside of the UK, headed by Lion Youth's "Rat a Cut Bottle," Pablo Gad's evocative "Hard Times," and the title track from Tabby Cat Kelly, which paints a poignant picture of the trials faced by Jamaican immigrants in England. Interestingly, the most famous British reggae band, UB40, is nowhere to be found, even though their early work was indeed rootsy -- most likely because they didn't they didn't make a splash until the early '80s. Note: The African Brothers here are not the early Sugar Minott trio, but rather a duo of Dennis Bovel and drummer/singer Jah Bunny.