Steel Pulse
True Democracy

THE REVIEW

Wake up at 7, make coffee with your eyes still closed, and you can tell. You wash up, feel a bit dizzy, dress as best as you can, and head out into the freezing cold that numbs your ears. An hour and three quarters to de-ice the windshield of the trusty amaranth Saxo mod. "Ciomba": plenty of time to choose the right disc from the varied sound material you’ve brought from home in the 90-liter alpine backpack. You already know the journey there and back will take about an hour, but the choice is crucial, and your frazzled mind knows you might change your mind. You’ve brought everything, including Adelmo e i suoi Sorapis, a collection of traditional Azerbaijani music, and the complete discography of Morena e i Raiders because "when I’m there, I never know which one to choose." Slowly, burdened by the enormous responsibility, you turn on the stereo and... magic: bass, drums, and guitar stabs introduce the upbeat of "Chant A Psalm" and you really start to wake up. Slowly, you also remember why you left the CD in the player the night before, while the first outlines become visible through the glass (palms?... poplars, probably). The sun melts you, the car is on autopilot, and the disc flows smoothly like velvet: in an impressive sequence "Ravers", "Find It…Quick!", "A Who Responsible?", "Worth His Weight In Gold", "Leggo Beast"… the Nesbitt-Martin-McQueen rhythm section is exquisite, the sounds and arrangements are meticulous, and the production by the usual Karl Pitterson (Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, Bunny Wailer, Big Youth, Pablo Moses etc.) is truly REMARKABLE… you're in the car with the stereo blasting, bouncing like a fool, even if you don’t understand a thing about Ras Tafari, to hell with everyone honking their horns, to hell with the rush and your annoying boss… sons of Jamaican immigrants, these (ex)kids of ours are from Birmingham and the album is recorded in Denmark (?!), but there are more Caribbean vibes in here than in a travel agency.

What can I say, awful cover art? Slight dip at the end?? By that point, you've already converted to Jah, or at the very least, found parking. This is their fourth album, the first for Elektra/Asylum, and if you don't know them, I also recommend their first two. The Rhino reissue also includes the 12" versions of "Ravers" and "Leggo Beast", and the dub versions of "Your House" (nice) and "A Who Responsible?" (less so).