She Was More Like A Beauty Queen With An M16

When March was promising a far better summer than we actually ending up having in the UK, Dub Pistols offered up the perfect (festival) soundtrack.

 

Frontline is Dub Pistols' 9th album in 25 years but the first that I've owned. Better late than never? Too right!

 

Formed by Barry Ashworth in 1996, Dub Pistols appeared on my radar with third single Westway and their remix of Faker by Audioweb, both in 1997. I have the grand total of three singles in my collection: Westway, Cyclone (1998) and Official Chemical (2004) plus a smattering of radio edits, album cuts and a handful of other remixes, up to 2015.

Since then, Dub Pistols have released four albums and, on my first listen, the immediate reaction is that the past quarter century has seen a refining rather than a reinventing of their sound. If you enjoyed Dub Pistols music in 1996/1997, then you are unlikely to be disappointed by Frontline. The album is a dozen tracks of precision-tooled and tried and tested tunes, examples of an act that has developed an inherent knowledge of what will please the crowd on the live circuit and fit seamlessly into a set list.

That's not to say that the music on Frontline is perfunctory and soulless, far from it. Barry knows his stuff and the melting pot of dub, reggae, dancehall, ska & drum n bass is enhanced by the selection of vocalists, many of whom have been regular gunslingers on previous albums. 

Listened to in it's entirety, Frontline brings a smile to my face and an urge to jump up and down in party style, the latter not advisable when driving it has to be said. To give you a flavour, I've picked half a dozen examples, the first three with accompanying videos on YouTube, the latter trio with audio links courtesy of Bandcamp. 

Nice Up, featuring Freestylers and Horseman

 

Moving On, featuring Natty Campbell joining Barry on lead vocals

Soundboy Killa, bringing back Freestylers and Natty Campbell

 

Better Has Come, featuring the sweet sounds of Lindy Layton

 

Jump On It, with yet more Freestylers, joined this time by Top Cat and a cheeky homage to The Shadows' Apache all to great effect

 

M16 brings back previous collaborators The Ragga Twins, Flinty Badman and Deman Rocker aka Trevor Destouche and David Destouche). In case it ever pops up unexpectedly in a pub quiz, Trevor and David are brothers, not twins. The song not only provides today's post title but takes liberties with Michael Jackson's #1 single from 1983, Billie Jean and samples Ennio Morricone's The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. Great stuff.

 

Frontline was another chance purchase but Dub Pistols has proved to be a staple of this year's summer, lousy though it was for the most part, weather-wise. I've every intention of venturing back into the Dub Pistols' back catalogue, most likely starting with 2007's Speakers And Tweeters if only because it heavily features the much-missed Terry Hall.

 

Aside from the usual channels and outlets, you can also buy Frontline via the official Dub Pistols website, on vinyl (black or red) or CD alongside T-shirt, bandana and poster or various combinations of the lot.