Can we call The Allergies the jewel in Jalapeno Records’ crown yet? I think we can after a decade on the label, a total of eight LPs now – with the arrival of the Beneath The Sun LP, massive radio play and all the soundtrack and advert syncs. Eight albums in ten years? You can’t keep working this hard boys! And yet they continue to push on, do their thing and tear the place up every time, for beneath this sun (it was once prophesied) two, hailing from Bristol with a steady group of companions would keep it fresh longer than irradiated fruit. Or something.
So, twelve cuts then, half of that payload made up by this year’s run of massive singles: This Feeling (heavy party breaks referencing 60s West Coast psychedelia), Dig It Up (feat. Andy Cooper & Blabbermouf on the most Cypress Hill bassline this side of Cypress Hill), Resistance (feat. Knytro over psych-rock samples and a beat worthy of Chase & Status), All The Time (rolling summery groove and mellower cousin to This Feeling), Leave Me Alone (feat. Aziza Jaye on a dancehall-influenced riddim with hip-hop stylings) and the 90s jazzy hip-hop of Lost My Soul feat. HybridMP & KAI. Well that’s the boys’ core audience covered while ensuring that they stay abreast of more current musical developments. What of the balance though?
Well, the first all-new cut for the LP is the title track is a loose-limbed slab of midtempo psychedelia that builds itself around a vocal sample and 80s synth effects but underpinned by a mammoth early seventies funk drum break featuring a crashing wall of cymbal sound. The monkey’s favourite comes next – a clattery slice of uptempo juke joint funk underpinning Marietta Smith’s lead vocals which very much sounds like it was penned by Mr Andy Cooper – who also turns up on background. The remaining four all-new cuts get relegated to the last quarter of the set – traditional filler placing – but fear not – any of these could’ve been singles too. New Dimension finds AC taking the lead on the mic again over a midtempo party hip-hop bounce, So Real is this LP’s slo-mo (for The Allergies anyway) Mr Loverman groove that builds the feeling around a distinctive old soul vocal loop, Coming On Strong is built in the same way and is yet another relative of opener This Feeling while proceedings close on the manic soul-funky party breakbeats of Bye Bye Baby built around yet another classic soul loop. Beneath The Sun then – it’s where you’re certain to find The Allergies basking in glory.
(Out now on Jalapeno Records)