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Envision a penny dreadful being sung aloud inside a pub while Roni Size tries to squeeze drunken gospeltronica out of his sequencer banks.
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Finley Quaye's 1997 debut, Maverick a Strike, was such an ebullient blast of sunshine, such a signature reinvention of reggae, that it was well worth wondering if the young Scotsman was the next Bob Marley. Nearly four years in coming, Quaye's follow-up album, Vanguard, has enough distinctively soulful moments to leave the door open on that question, but also enough lightweight material to leave you wondering if Quaye isn't as much a novelty as a visionary.
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Entertainment WeeklyQuaye's thoroughly urbanized, half-mad brand of African roots music is alive, well, and wonderfully prickly. [3/2/01, p.70]
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An album that takes a dramatic leap forward from the wafer-thin reggae he was peddling on his debut album...
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VibeDespite its trippy promise, the album sometimes falters because of Quaye's quirky, self-indulgent lyrics. [Apr 2001, p. 170]
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It’s pleasant enough music if you’re having a Caribbean-themed barbecue in your backyard, I guess, but little here will challenge your musical senses or move you in any way.
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It's made up of some songs you think you shouldn't like, some you weren't ready for, and some you'll have to rewind to make sure you heard correctly. It is an album with no peers. And that, my friends, is a recommendation.
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On Vanguard, the same basic formula is employed, only the emphasis is much more on reggae influences, and the experimentation with genre boundaries is considerably toned down. There’s still much that shines, however.