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Spread the Social Love:
On to their 5th studio album, Dub Pistols are still producing infectious, genre-mixing Dub and Drum and Bass. A talent for blending live instrumentation with electronic production has made them elder statesmen within the Drum and Bass scene, and the sense of energy and fun they bring has now been recognised with an award from DJ Mag for 2011’s best live act. Their latest, Worshipping the Dollar, bristles with uptempo, catchy tunes that hide darker, more conscious lyrical themes delivered by some of the best in UK urban music.
Dub Pistols debuted in 1998 and since then, Barry Ashworth and the rest of his outfit have had a lot of opportunities to make friends with some seriously talented people. The album contains many of these guests, and none more high profile than Rodney P, the UK Hip Hop legend who makes several appearances. Several other smart additions provide a good amount of variation across Worshipping the Dollar and make it an exciting, satisfying listen with a collaborative feel.
Opener ‘Alive’ serves as a good crash course to Dub Pistols' sound. It begins with a clear, energising horn riff, sounding as fresh as ablast of mountain air. It builds up to break into a rollicking Big Beat House groove, backed by beefy kick drums, the trippy vocals of Barbados’ Red Star Lion and those inimitable horns. Among the tracks and genres on offer in Worshipping the Dollar, this is the one that most reflects the music the band built their reputation on. It’s a wonderful reminder that Dub Pistols can still do this style of music so well and keep it sounding vital.
Akala is introduced on next track ‘West End Story’ and marks a change into Reggae-influenced Hip Hop. Akala’s a great lyricist and the reedy organ riff and skanking guitars provide a bouncy backing for his politically-charged, insightful raps. This might sound like an unlikely pairing butit works and becomes a theme across an LP which takes its title from one of Akala’s lines. Lyrics such as “where the robber is honoured/ and the kids are cannon fodder/ there’s no flag large enough to wrap around the horror” fit with a wider shift back towards more conscious territory for Dub Pistols, perhaps another nod to their older output.
Nowhere is this theme more obvious than on ‘Mucky Weekend’, the first Drum and Bass song from Worshipping the Dollar. Over a driving Jungle beat, Rodney P spins the tale of a wild night, a sarcastic salute to weekend hedonism and relentless cocaine use. The big, shouty chorus wouldn’t be out of place on a record by The Streets and has that same tongue-in-cheek attitude that made Mike Skinner’s chronicles of life in Britain so bittersweet. A plucking guitar and another great horn riff complement the frantic drums and result in the absolute stand-out track of the album!
It’s a schizophrenic listening experience but each transition is managed very well. The soulful and sultry ‘Bang Bang’ provides a nice break from the frenetic pace, as does ‘New Skank’. Dubsteppy glitches and lightning-fast breaks sit happily alongside the classic reggae instrumentation and that’s largely down to the peerless production. Horns, guitars and piano’s are produced to emulate golden period 70s Dub and sound fantastic throughout, while the drums, rapping vocals and other ‘modern’ elements give the tracks energy and club credibility.
An intoxicating mix of styles give you the feeling that you never quite know what’s coming next but I was rarely disappointed with what Dub Pistols had cooked up. The group show no signs of having run out of steam on their 5th album and, instead, look to be only growing stronger as they add yet more ingredients to their potent brew.
Dub Pistols debuted in 1998 and since then, Barry Ashworth and the rest of his outfit have had a lot of opportunities to make friends with some seriously talented people. The album contains many of these guests, and none more high profile than Rodney P, the UK Hip Hop legend who makes several appearances. Several other smart additions provide a good amount of variation across Worshipping the Dollar and make it an exciting, satisfying listen with a collaborative feel.
WATCH // 'Mucky Weekend'
Opener ‘Alive’ serves as a good crash course to Dub Pistols' sound. It begins with a clear, energising horn riff, sounding as fresh as ablast of mountain air. It builds up to break into a rollicking Big Beat House groove, backed by beefy kick drums, the trippy vocals of Barbados’ Red Star Lion and those inimitable horns. Among the tracks and genres on offer in Worshipping the Dollar, this is the one that most reflects the music the band built their reputation on. It’s a wonderful reminder that Dub Pistols can still do this style of music so well and keep it sounding vital.
Akala is introduced on next track ‘West End Story’ and marks a change into Reggae-influenced Hip Hop. Akala’s a great lyricist and the reedy organ riff and skanking guitars provide a bouncy backing for his politically-charged, insightful raps. This might sound like an unlikely pairing butit works and becomes a theme across an LP which takes its title from one of Akala’s lines. Lyrics such as “where the robber is honoured/ and the kids are cannon fodder/ there’s no flag large enough to wrap around the horror” fit with a wider shift back towards more conscious territory for Dub Pistols, perhaps another nod to their older output.
Nowhere is this theme more obvious than on ‘Mucky Weekend’, the first Drum and Bass song from Worshipping the Dollar. Over a driving Jungle beat, Rodney P spins the tale of a wild night, a sarcastic salute to weekend hedonism and relentless cocaine use. The big, shouty chorus wouldn’t be out of place on a record by The Streets and has that same tongue-in-cheek attitude that made Mike Skinner’s chronicles of life in Britain so bittersweet. A plucking guitar and another great horn riff complement the frantic drums and result in the absolute stand-out track of the album!
LISTEN // Worshipping the Dollar Album Sampler:
It’s a schizophrenic listening experience but each transition is managed very well. The soulful and sultry ‘Bang Bang’ provides a nice break from the frenetic pace, as does ‘New Skank’. Dubsteppy glitches and lightning-fast breaks sit happily alongside the classic reggae instrumentation and that’s largely down to the peerless production. Horns, guitars and piano’s are produced to emulate golden period 70s Dub and sound fantastic throughout, while the drums, rapping vocals and other ‘modern’ elements give the tracks energy and club credibility.
An intoxicating mix of styles give you the feeling that you never quite know what’s coming next but I was rarely disappointed with what Dub Pistols had cooked up. The group show no signs of having run out of steam on their 5th album and, instead, look to be only growing stronger as they add yet more ingredients to their potent brew.
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