The Jai-Alai Savant - "Flight of the Bass Delegate"

The Jai-Alai Savant - Sugar Free (GSL 2007)

The Jai-Alai Savant – Flight of the Bass Delegate / Gold Standard Laboratories

Just recently, Chicago’s Watchers celebrated their new album release by sharing the stage with The Eternals and The Jai-Alai Savant. It is an interesting trifecta of Chicago acts because they all share a similar ethos yet each concocts a very individual sound. Both the Watchers with their Contortions-meet-Specials avant-funk-punk and The Eternals with their mutated P-Funk Afro-pop crafted with Upsetter-like production have been knocking around the scene for a good while now, but The Jai-Alai Savant are relatively new, especially here in the Second City. Damon Locks of The Eternals has provided artwork for both of the releases for the trifecta’s little brother, so the relationship with the newest act has been established for at least a minute, but I am curious just how far back it reaches. The shared aesthetic is just so strong, its almost as if they bounce ideas off each other; could a super group be in the works? Perhaps, but as for now, let’s place all hypothetical questions aside and just concentrate on the release at hand by putting the spotlight on The Jai-Alai Savant.

Brainchild of guitarist/singer/songwriter Ralph Darden, the trio’s debut EP on Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’s Gold Standard Labs imprint, Thunderstatement, was just that: a highly energetic, booming statement of the hybrid reggae-punk-pop The Jai-Alai Savant (pronounced hi-a-lie sa-vant) were to unleash. Rounded out by drummer Michael Bravine, bassist Nash Snyder and dub-beat-concoctor Major Taylor (Darden's DJ alias), the Chicago-by-way-of-Philly group have now let the reigns loose with their debut full-length Flight of the Bass Delegate. Like the EP and their companion bands, it truly defies categorization. Post-punk chugs beneath the dub production, reggae riddims groove with pop-punk energy, krautrock experimentation progresses with power-pop anthems, along with a dozen other odd pairings that make up the album. It’s music that is both infectious and challenging, which is the toughest couple of all to balance.

One major comparison I have been hearing a lot is to The Police, which obviously is not quite up to the wide-reaching descriptions I have been delineating so far. But I can also easily see why it is so often used. Darden sings with a similar high-pitched yelp to Sting, but with much, much more energy and urgency. And the bright marriage of reggae, pop and punk is also similar to the 80s sensation, but the parallel would be much stronger if The Police had evolved in a post-punk realm rather than just pop, pop and more radio-friendly pop. Plus the heavily playful Eternals-like dub production really shatters any such comparison to justify the outside reference.

The band really excels when the anthem-friendly energy is turned all the way up (in a similar manner to Parts & Labor’s recent release, but with less noise-rock). In particular, “Scarlett Johansson Why Don’t You Love Me” (a question every male anywhere very much including myself asks himself every time we watch Ghost World or Lost in Translation; talk about relatability) and “Sugar Free” will have you singing along after the very first chorus. The former boogies along with its stabbing, tinny guitar chops and harmonic group vocals, and the latter with a mellower rocksteady build up and wonderful fireworks-show climax. “The Low Frequent See” on the other hand displays the experimental prowess of the group. At nearly eight minutes long, the song kicks off with a sample-heavy dub riddim before a horn-colored melodic-tinged groove instigates that relaxed rocksteady dance you can’t help but succumb to when listening to that late 60s reggae. Synthesizer effects and urgency layers as the song progresses, and after a climax laced with trumpet and sax, the initial dub riddim re-imagines the theme for a couple of grooving minutes. It is not completely unlike The Clash’s better dub-inflected numbers.

Now that The Jai-Alai Savant is officially established as an act to wrap your ears around, can we now call this new wave of dub-punk a scene? If so, sign me up, because I am digging the hell out of it, and if it produces more albums like Flight of the Bass Delegate, Heavy International and Vampire Driver than let’s all show our love. Hmmm, someone should really start a label to band these similar minds together and further define the musical powerhouse that is Chicago. Anyone out there willing to loan me a couple grand to get it off the ground?