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From ska to rock to hip-hop to funk and back again, Soapbox Jive slaps genre classification in the face with licked fingers. At one end of the spectrum is “Jump Blues,” where Jason Duffy’s sultry lower register and Michael Smith’s splashing cymbals oppose funk and bebop guitars in a frenzy of nostalgia. On the other end lies the Afro-pop tinted “Higher Ground,” based around African soukous guitar licks, Caribbean soca, and Cuban songo patterns. The rest of Jive continues to move with incredible fluidity from socio-political explorations to dance-floor jumpers like “Love Bombs,” where funk-infused bass lines twirl with tight, punctuated horn and Digable Planets-style vocals. Soapbox Jive (to be released on Friday, November 19, at Herman’s Hideaway) is a definite classic.
