CURRENT ISSUE

DONATE ADVERTISE SUBSCRIBE

Reviewed by Adam Burns

Tomorrow People: Bass & Bassinets

Reviewed by Adam Burns

Tomorrow People: Bass & Bassinets

It‘s hard to be dismissive of a band like Tomorrow People. Especially when you grew up around your parents’ musical diet which consisted of the likes of Herbs, Ardijah, etc. Those bands tapped into a very clear-cut Kiwi sensibility with the anthems to boot, and much of ‘Bass & Bassinets’ mines a pretty inoffensive brand of parochial reggae/R&B. This Wellington ensemble have been trekking the local live circuit for the past few years. Can their stuff hold up to be something more than dispensable BBQ bread-n-butter in the studio? To be honest, not much of it stays with you after initial sittings, but that is not to say there isn‘t an audience to lap this up, especially as NZ continues to have a love affair with boilerplate rootsy sentimentality. However you‘re not going to source much from the first half of this record that wasn‘t nailed soundly on Cornerstone Roots’ ‘Soul Revolution’. Opener No Rush benefits from the steel drums backing providing a sonic flourish, but really deserved more production attention to make it truly memorable. Train To Nowhere sounds like the sort of zeal that could transfer into a live favourite and with the odd ragga vocal sweep late in the piece. Mid-album cut Even Though trades in that futuristic motor-charged funk that Kora tucked into four years ago – maybe there is some hint of flair yet to come from this outfit.

support nzm