Culture

Rating: 3.5/5

“They’re like a British Rage Against The Machine. They work punk guitars and politically-charged lyrics into dub, reggae, world music and rap. This rainbow-coloured music collective both condemns racial violence and breaks down the walls between ethnic terminology. Shit is dope.”

Though I had never listened to them until recently, Asian Dub Foundation’s repute is something like the above. Championed by Radiohead guitarist/ musical hero of mine Ed O’Brien (heck, he’s even appeared on an album of theirs), I’d been meaning to check out the acclaimed Londoners for a very long time. Their new and eighth studio album, The Signal And The Noise, seemed like an acceptable place to start. Though it didn’t disappoint as such, I walked away from The Signal And The Noise a tad ambivalent.

As promised, the politically-charged lyrics are there, as are the punk guitars and splashes of dub, reggae, world music and rap. So far, so good. Asian Dub Foundation juxtaposes their genres in an incredibly entertaining way, such as the Bhangrā-framed rap-core of The Signal And The Noise’s title track. This genre-hopping and -blending certainly attests to their ethnically-inclusive melting pot philosophy. And sure enough, they discuss race within their lyrics as profoundly as one might expect (“clearly marked, but kept apart and in the dark”). Independently, these two halves are great. Problems can arise, however, when the group places them together.

One of the few criticisms of Asian Dub Foundation is that their lyrics don’t always correspond to the song around them. At several points on The Signal And The Noise, I found this to be the case. An example is “Zig Zag Nation,” the anthemic and guest-heavy opening number. Its title and lyrics refer to the integration of different cultures into modern day England – a societal shift for which Asian Dub Foundation have reportedly spent their entire career campaigning. Yet the lyrics are spat out with displeasure; the song batters the listener with fiery guitars and percussive clatter. So off is the tone and delivery of “Zig Zag Nation” that a passive listener might entirely misinterpret the band’s stance on the topic at hand.

Though Asian Dub Foundation delivered both halves of their music as promised, at times on The Signal And The Noise I found them to clash. This isn’t necessarily true of the rest of their discography, and my first taste of the group has motivated me enough to listen and find out. I suspect this was the wrong place for me to start, and that their best work – the stuff Ed O’Brien salivates over – lies elsewhere. Research tells me their 2000 album Community Music is far more illustrative of their talents. I will hasten to check it out, as should you. See you there.