What Vic Ruggiero calls a punky-reggae duo...or did he say funky? This album was recorded in a marathon session during March of 2013 at the Steady Rock Easy-Groove Factory in LA with the brilliant production and musical assistance of Joe Quinones and Sammy Kay. Essentially we just camped out in the studio, chilled with Sammy & The Delirians, and worked really hard to make a good record in 10 days. It rules. It's an album full of huge tunes and styles of Rocksteady, Blues, Ska, Punk, Blue Beat, and Reggae amongst a few others. Anthony Medina of The Delirians sprinkles magic on at least half a dozen tunes with ferocious organ playing. Joe plays half a dozen instruments on the album including bass, trumpet, trombone, sax, and laid down tons of epic harmonies. We even got our new friend Esteban Flores Valenzuela to play piano on a tune. Oh and Sammy's credits are bottle playing, drunk girl, and getting fired dozens of times (but not really, it's just a joke, we love Sammy). It's mastered by none other than King Django at Version City Studio. "The band mixes in hallmarks of blues with a distorted harmonic making the album title Blues Like Sandpaper | Rocksteady Like Dirt seem overwhelmingly appropriate." [5/06/2014] —Adam Morgan - Surviving the Golden Age Distinctly unique music has resulted in an eclectic disc that will undoubtedly thrill fans of the Specials or The Menzingers, but the references should not stop there, for this places Americana, folk, punk, rocksteady, surf, and blues into a musical blender and rather than pouring out a discombobulated mess, Irie Idea create finely crafted anthems of authenticity and charm." [4/30/2014] —Rich Quinlan - Jersey Beat “Irie Idea, take a traditionalist view of blues, ska and rocksteady reggae and juice it with the energy of the punk rock on which they were weaned.” [4/24/2014] —The Big Takeover "Nailing down a unique punk-influenced reggae sound, the group maintains their upbeat Rocksteady mentality, which shines with diversity and energy." [4/23/2014] —Ryan McGrath - The Aquarian Weekly "The duo’s new album Blues Like Sandpaper | Rocksteady Like Dirt features members of The Delirians, Matamoska and Sammy Kay and maintains an eclectic mix of traditional blues, rocksteady, ska, punk and funk." [3/25/2014] —Nick Krenn - Earbuddy “They’re a two-piece outfit, but Irie Idea manage to fill the sound almost completely. They play tight and they play furiously. It’s an intimate, manic jam session between friends, and we’re standing witness to the beautiful storm.” [1/03/2013] —Jamie Hale - Knox Road "Infused with a punk ethos layered to the bone, Irie Idea exemplifies traditional ska and reggae music while borrowing from all historically important styles of music, namely Rocksteady and Blues." —Tony Godino - My Dead Industry