Welcome to the first in a series of looking at bands that never really seem to have hit for some reason. The first BAYNH is a group that I, honestly, believe is one of the best bands performing today; Bedouin Soundclash. Bedouin Soundclash are one of those bands that are a bit hard to classify, there's elements of Punk, Rasta, Reggae, folk and Jamaican Dancehall in their music, making for a unique and varied sound. I know for sure that the band are influenced by Bad Brains (look them up) because they cover BB songs at their live gigs. Whilst the biggest talk about BSC seems to be in Punk circles, I'm still reluctant to classify them as a Rasta Punk group because of their heavy Reggae sound. Just listen:
In fact, aside from Punks and Rastas, the biggest fan base for BSC seems to be Hipsters. This is probably due to the mistaken notion people have that Reggae is classed as "World Music" (as opposed to being one of the most influential musical styles of the 20th Century). What really gets to me about BSC is how obscure they are. When people ask me to recommend a band they haven't heard, BSC is pretty much at the top of my list. With their chilled-out sound and thoughtful lyrics I figured that they would at least appeal to the kind of folk-leaning trendy TripleJ fans that vote shit like Angus and Julia Stone to the top of the charts. On that note, here's the overplayed love song to tempt you in:
Yeah, I'm not a fan of this one, but most of the fair-weather-fans love it. In fact, when I saw BSC live, even they didn't want to play 12:59. That said, there are many bands that have to suffer through one of their own bland generic hits at every gig for the rest of their lives. I can't think of an example right now, but I'm sure one will come to me. Anyway, Reggae, Punk and just a bit Roots and Folksy. Check out Bedouin Soundclash sometime when you want to chill out. I'll leave you with my favourite song of theirs:
Hat Guy - Less Reggae, more Punk, not making a 'root' joke.
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