Bedouin Soundclash
Street Gospels
(For fans of Bob Marley & the Wailers)

When I think about reggae music, an image of Marley (Bob, not Ziggy) and the Wailers pops into my head. I’d imagine that most of you think of Marley when you hear the word reggae. It’s almost hard not to. Songs like “No Woman, No Cry,” “Redemption Song” and “One Love” (among a plethora of others) helped define an era of intolerance, and still today define a way of life for many. Even if you don’t associate reggae with Marley, you probably associate it with a group that is heavily, heavily influenced by him. I certainly wouldn’t expect anyone to think of a little-known (well, in the States at least) band from the Canadian province of Ontario—funnily enough, from a college town named Kingston—who call themselves Bedouin Soundclash. But you definitely should from now on.

I first heard of Bedouin Soundclash when they went on tour in 2005 with a band I wrote about a few months ago, Streetlight Manifesto. I really wasn’t that interested in reggae at the time, and, as it was a ska-punk show, I really wasn’t interested in hearing reggae right then. Imagine getting to a Rolling Stones concert and finding out you’re going to have to sit through an hour-long 50 Cent concert first—that’s how I felt right then. But I sat through it anyway, in large part because if I had gone outside, security probably wouldn’t have let me back in (but that’s beside the point), and though I wasn’t wowed, I found them unique and talented enough to buy an album at the merch stand. And then it sat in my iTunes library for a few years without getting a full listen.

A few months ago, while reading through a music blog, I found out that Bedouin Soundclash had a new album, Street Gospels, out that reached No. 2 on the Canadian charts. Having never met a Canadian with bad music taste (though I really haven’t met too many Canadians), I decided to give the album a listen. What I found inside was something I wasn’t expecting: reggae music that actually takes the road less traveled.

It’s definitely reggae in terms of base style, but with a much more modern take. Sure, the requisite guitar twangs are there, but there’s a lot more. In the song “Walls Fall Down,” my current favorite, Bedouin Soundclash combines a rock style with a faster beat than what’s usually heard in reggae and then throws in an awesome reprise that showcases the vocals very well. And the vocals are really one of the best things about Bedouin Soundclash. Singer and guitarist Jay Malinowski—a name that just screams “reggae singer”—has a voice that is at once soft and coarse, capable of keeping perfect pitch at the high notes and masterful tone at the low notes. When you see a photo of Mr. Malinowski after hearing his music, try not to be too surprised—Jay is proof that skinny white guys can sing reggae just as well as Marley.

I realize I’ve never really given ratings to the music I review in this column, and that’s a shame, because I’d love to give this album six out of five stars—or something like that. I guess all I can do is strongly recommend that you go out and give Street Gospels a few listens and see for yourself that Bedouin Soundclash is bringing reggae into the 21st century with grace and talent.