Unglued Reviews

The debut album from Chicago-based trio The Jai-Alai Savant is an adventurous mix of dub, post-punk, reggae, rock and pop that sounds unlike almost anything else ā€“ imagine the offspring of a union between The Police and Bad Brains and youā€™re part way towards envisaging their sound and also realising how unusual it is. Philadelphia-born singer, guitarist and songwriter Ralph Darden has brought all his influences together to create an eclectic collection of songs.

The bass-driven rock of Arcane Theories and White On White Crime is near unstoppable, while the wonderfully titled Scarlett Johansson Why Donā€™t You Love Me and Akebono deliver reggae-inspired pop hooks that highlight the bandā€™s accessibility. When I Grow Up is likewise welcoming, mixing together pop and punk without being remotely pop-punk. On the other side of the coin is The Low Frequent See, which pushes eight minutes for a meandering exploration of desolate dub and rock that employs dialogue samples by Dardenā€™s alter ego, DJ Major Taylor, and ambient instrumental interlude Transmission From The Dub-Delegate. The electronica additions provided by ā€?Taylorā€¯ are most noticeable on Data Massaganna and the intro of Murder Pon The Dancefloor Part II. …and then thereā€™s the experimental 30ā€™s In The Thousands, which adds folk to the already diverse mix and is definitely the most unusual moment on an unusual album.

Flight Of The Bass Delegate practically defies classification, and it is certainly a dense album, but several pop-oriented songs provide easy entry points, and exploring the recordā€™s depths proves rewarding.

Owen Heitmann