Bedouin Soundclash

Street Gospels

Side One Dummy

(Bedouin Soundclash MySpace)

If you didn’t know any better and all you did was just flick through Bedouin Soundclash’s album booklet for its newest release, Street Gospels, you could be forgiven for thinking the band was straight out of Jamaica and not Canada. There is a definite strong reggae influence on the album, however, as with the band's two previous releases there is also a great African influence too, similar to Paul Simon’s Graceland.

One of the best things about Bedouin Soundclash is it does have its own sound, thanks largely to Jay Malinowski’s distinctive voice. For the unfamiliar, he kind of reminds me of Perry Farrell from Jane’s Addiction and it’s that unique sounding I am sure it turns off as many people as the band converts.

Produced by Sounding a Mosaic producer, Bad Brain’s Daryl Jennifer, the production allows the three-piece band to be creative and for each to showcase their undeniable talents simultaneously. So basically a song never sounds over-crowded with dubs or keyboards etc. It helps the music sound natural and compliments Jay Malinowski’s vocals perfectly.

The more upbeat songs are to be found at the beginning of the album, with the bouncy Walls Fall Down and the excellent Trinco Dog setting the pace. Adding some steel drums on Bells of 59 is a nice touch and the album includes 12:59 Lullaby, as featured on Grey’s Anatomy and no I don’t watch the show. The African influences can most be heard on Hush and Higher Ground, which on first hearing the beginning, I thought I was listening to something off the Lion King Soundtrack.

For its third release, Beduoin Soundclash has crafted an album that improves in every area on its last and at the end of the day they themselves and their fans have to be more than happy with that.

Reviewed by Pilipo