** 1/2; BIG MOUNTAIN, “Big Mountain” (<i> Giant</i> )

It’s possible that only Southern California could produce a reggae group like Big Mountain, a multiracial unit fronted by a Mexican-Irish singer named Quino. While his musical heroes are Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff, it’s ironic that Quino is at his most fetching on a version of pop-meister Peter Frampton’s “Baby, I Love Your Way,” this album’s most sweetly irresistible cut.

Big Mountain does tackle big topics--”Bordertown” questions how descendants of California’s earliest occupants came to be regarded as illegal aliens. On that track and with the gently affecting spirituality of “Upful and Right,” this group makes the notion of Latin-accented reggae sound like more than just some politically correct novelty.

While lacking the imposing, charismatic strength of Marley and the rugged dynamism of Cliff, this band is a welcome example of how music can break down boundaries. That it exists at all suggests that a give-and-take collaboration between cultures isn’t such an impossible mountain to scale.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).