I can’t see any of this album as the soundtrack to the World Cup but that doesn’t make it a bad album. Electonic Beats think Jahcoozi are going to be big this year but they’ve got a couple of things working against them. One is the silly album cover and the other, more importantly, is an album of 13 tracks that are nearly very good.

The opener ‘Black Barbie’ sets the tone with a strange ‘Black Magic Woman’ echo in the lyrics, ‘Ghostbuster Generation’ is let down by the “Who ya gonna call?” chorus and ‘Ali McBills’ just ain’t funny (but we love the dubtronic beats guys). Perhaps I’m just missing the joke here.

Sasha Perera (vocals/texts), Robot Koch (beats and production) and Oren Gerlitz (bass and production) rarely get to the underground, except on the suitably twisted ‘The Bouncer Who Turned Good’, when RQM (of The Tape vs. RQM) takes on the mic on ‘Homeboy’s Blender’ and ‘Fish’ is offbeat enough that when it origianllly came out on WMF Records in 2003, John Peel played it.

To be fair[er], the album improves in the second half with ‘Shake The Doom’, ‘Asian Bride Magazine’ and ‘Heal The World’. This album will appeal to fans of the in-your-face approach of M.I.A.

They’ve previously supported a mixed bag of Aphex Twin, DAT Politics, Chicks on Speed, Airborn Audio, Kevin Blechdom, Jamie Lidell, Tiefschwarz and the Big Dada Soundsystem. They’re touring around Europe at the moment and hitting Birmingham and London at the end of May. Well worth a look by all accounts.

Reviewed: Jahcoozi — Pure Breed Mongrel (Kitty-Yo) Cat. No. KY05108CD
Tracklisting:
1. Black Barbie (3:40)
2. Changing Time (3:47)
3. Ghostbuster Generation (3:32)
4. Fish (4:03)
5. Who (3:38)
6. Ali McBills (4:16)
7. Homeboy’s Blender (4:09)
8. Dot Com Bust (4:18)
9. The Bouncer Who Turned Good (3:40)
10. Shake The Boom (3:13)
11. Asian Bride Magazine (4:17)
12. Heal The World (3:02)
13. Acne (3:49)

• Apr 22 2006 8:00P REX, PARIS
• Apr 30 2006 6:00P Ken fm, Berlin
• Apr 30 2006 8:00P SPRINGLOVE at 103, Berlin
• May 12 2006 8:00P Patronaat, Haarlem, Amsterdam.
• May 13 2006 8:00P Urban Explorer Festival, Bibelot Dorderecht
• May 26 2006 8:00P tba, Birmingham
• May 27 2006 8:00P 93 feet east, London
• Jun 10 2006 8:00P wasserwerk, Basel
• Jun 23 2006 8:00P Rocker 33, Stuttgart
• Jul 1 2006 8:00P Fusion Festival Laerz
• Jul 8 2006 8:00P Stereoleto Festival, St. Petersburg
• Jul 15 2006 8:00P Elettrowave Festival, Arezzo

Links:
www.jahcoozi.com
www.myspace.com/jahcoozi
www.kitty-yo.com