Playgroup

Better known as the Underdog and always the nearly man of leftfield British dub/hip-hop/oddities, Trevor Jackson’s decided to go hell for leather with his Playgroup project debut. That means inviting a host of his almost famous and not-so-famous “maverick” mates from t’other side of the tracks; Shinehead, Edwyn Collins, Roddy Frame, Peaches, Gonzales, KC Flightt, Happy Monday’s Rowetta, Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hannah and Lucy Pearl’s Joi. Cool. Trev used to be a design student.

A “loose collective”, then, with Trev at the controls, Playgroup sounds like nothing you’ve heard since, oooh, 1983.

Standouts include the opener, ‘Number One’, a sleazy slice of Prince-like disco-funk, the electro-soul of ‘Pressure’ that straddles a monster Mantronik-esque b-line, the arty Krautpop of ‘Make It Happen’ and the Specials-inspired modern dub of ‘SurfaceTo Air’, while the slo-mo sing-a-long funk of ‘Hideaway’ will have you humming all the way to the art gallery. Only the irritating, angry dub rock of ‘Bring It On’ and the rather pointless ‘Too Much’ let the side down.

An informed, intelligent, sexy and rewarding album that could easily have been a disaster. Jackson himself probably never thought he had in him.