The Beat feat. Ranking Roger First Album for over 30 years
Bounce to be released Sept 30th on DMF Records
Single Walking On The Wrong Side out
July 22
Watch the video for Walking On The Wrong Side right here and let your head and body be taken by what 1 In Music believes is an impeccably designed laidback Reggae groove. You’ll find moves that you did not think your body knew or could achieve. 2 thumbs up from us on this track from the appropriately-titled album Bounce:
The truly great bands are the ones you recognise in an instant – from a snatch of vocal, an inimitable snap and swagger of rhythm, a sonic fingerprint that says this could not possibly be anyone else.
That’s the way it is with ‘Bounce’, the spectacular new fourth album by first-generation 2 Tone skankers turned purveyors of joyous political pop The Beat. From the clipped and hectic rude boy shuffle of new tunes ‘Avoid The Obvious’ to the chiming sunshine pop romance of ‘Heaven Hiding’ through to ‘Fire Burn’’s heavy-duty righteousness, ‘Bounce’ shows off every gleaming aspect of the most musically diverse band to come out of the multiracial, multicultural explosion that remade British pop from 1979 onwards.
‘Bounce’ is the first album from The Beat in over 30 years and released on independent label DMF Records. Written by a combination of Ranking Roger, Mick Lister and Ranking Junior, it has been produced by Mick Lister (Bad Company, Amy Winehouse, The Feeling) and mixed by Tim Hamill and Mick Lister except Side to Side and My Dream mixed by Dennis Bovell (The Slits, Madness).
The same energy that drove the hit singles of the 80s; ‘Mirror In The Bathroom’, ‘Stand Down Margaret’ and ‘Too Nice To Talk To’ – reggae looseness plus razor-sharp songwriting meets the paranoid pace of punk – is here again. It’s all been re-rubbed, freshened and refracted through the multiple dance sounds that followed on from 2 Tone, all the black-meets-white, bass-meets-melody mashups that The Beat helped to trigger. Look into the DNA of every generation of British ravers from The Prodigy through drum’n’bass to UK grime and you’ll find traces of The Beat in there.
Joining Roger in the revitalised Beat is his son Ranking Junior AKA Matthew Murphy, a powerhouse MC who adds a new dimension to The Beat’s live shows, along with drummers Oscar Harrison of Ocean Colour Scene and Fuzz Townshend of Pop Will Eat Itself . The line-up is completed by Chiko Hamilton on sax, bass guitar Andy Pearson, guitarist Steve Harper and Bobby Bird whose background in ambient dub as Higher Intelligence Agency brings a new psychedelic dimension to The Beat.
The first single to be taken from ‘Bounce’ will be “Walking On The Wrong Side” which is released on 22nd July.
Released on CD, vinyl and digital, the 11 tracks on ‘Bounce’ are:
Walking On The Wrong Side / Busy Busy Doing Nothing / Heaven Hiding / Avoid The Obvious / Fire Burn / On My Way / Work Work Work / Talkin’ About Her / Side To Side / My Dream / Close The Door
Catch the band’s brilliant live shows at these places:
October
15 NOTTINGHAM Rock City
21 TUNBRIDGE WELLS The Forum
22 LOWESTOFT The Aquarium
28 GLASGOW Drygate
November
03 LEAMINGTON SPA The Assembly
04 PLYMOUTH The Hub
18 LONDON Under The Bridge
19 SOUTHEND Chinnerys
25 EXETER Phoenix
26 PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms
December
02 BRISTOL The Fleece
03 WOLVES Slade Rooms
08 BRIDPORT Electric Palace
09 BRIGHTON Concorde 2
10 BEDFORD Esquires
16 WAKEFIELD Warehouse
17 SHEFFIELD The Plug
18 COVENTRY Copper Rooms
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