I slide the CD into the player, crank up the volume, and out comes this nouveau scratchy-vinyl sound, and some badass whispers "Come to me....bleeuahgh". Score one for Baby Fox; I've never heard anyone throwing up on record before. And a captivating flutey sample that has had me racking my brains trying to come up with the original source. This album deserves closer scrutiny.
Dub is like that. Much of its power lies in its ability, through the creative use of samples, to tickle your memory, to nudge your synapses and dredge up half-forgotten recollections of music once heard. UK readers may already be familiar with a recent single "Johnny Lipstick", from this North London trio comprised of Christine Ann Leach, Alex Gray and Dwight. There's more good stuff like that on this album.
The comparison with Portishead is pretty hard to avoid, but amongst all the other trip-hop bands that popped up after last year's discovery of the Bristol Sound, Baby Fox has apparently sidestepped and outsmarted the best of them. For instance, "Ladybird", a slow and sultry number, brings out the best of Christine's vocals.
What doesn't work? I can't get enthused over "Alienway". It's probably the only flat spot on the album; I can't shake the image of some seedy karaoke bar, with a girl singing her heart out and the rest of the punters are busy watching the sports channel. Maybe ease up on the reverb, guys.
After the ambient "Our Face Is Not A Jackal" (and a fine track it is), the album shifts gears and lifts the pace up a notch, firstly for "Za Za (Get Ready)", a discoid number with sugary vocals. Another potential single would be "Rain", a smouldering number, lightened up with little piano riffs and a beat that lies somewhere between a drum machine and a wah-wah. I'm definitely having trouble at the moment getting this one out of my head.
The album closes with an absolute killer track, a cover of Lee Scratch Perry's "Curlylocks". This is brilliant: powered by brass, punctuated by samples of shrieking Formula 1 race cars. As with all perfect reggae tracks, you just start bobbing up and down helplessly; it's just irresistible. This song and a couple of others reflect a heritage that goes back to vintage UB40, Signing Off. There's another track that is a cover of the Marc Bolan song "Girl" (that I'm not familiar with), and like the Lee Scratch Perry cover, they don't sound like covers, but integrate well with the other tracks and into the overall Baby Fox sound.
All in all, I dig this album, worthy of being filed along side Portishead and Tricky. Watch this band.
