Yard Act release dub version of debut LP ‘The Overload’
2022 kicked off with a bang when British rockers Yard Act dropped their debut album, The Overload, in January. Filled to the brim with infectious post-punk anthems and maniacal rants, The Overload fulfilled its album’s title by jolting audiences with a barrage of distortion, angular riffs, and brutal drum hits.
Now, Yard Act are sharing a completely different side of that music with a fully-dubbed version of the album. Masterminded by British dub pioneer Mad Professor, The Overdub takes the indefatigable energy of the original album and slows it down to a spacey and mind-expanding new sonic territory.
“Back when I first moved to Leeds and discovered Jumbo records, I used to treat myself to a record with my student loan once every two or three weeks (bloody students, scrounging bastards),” frontman James Smith shares. “Jumbo always had (and still does have) an excellent dub/reggae selection – and actually released reggae records on its own ‘Jumbo label’ imprint back in the ’70s (how ace is that!?).”
“I had a grounding in reggae from my dad who’d turned me onto the likes of Burning Spear and Linton Kwesi Johnson, but didn’t really know much about dub music beyond a Bob Marley record produced by Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry he’d given me called African Herbsman,” Smith adds. “I started dabbling in dub off the back of that. After a few choice ‘Scratch’ cuts and King Tubby best of, I bought the Jah Shaka meets Mad Professor record in Jumbo purely because I liked the artwork and because I thought the name was cool. What a purchase.
“I’ve been a fan ever since. From his work with Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry through U-Roy and, of course, not forgetting his masterful reinterpretation of Massive Attack’s ‘Protection’ – the Mad Prof truly is a living legend, and it is an absolute honour to have had him stick his dubby fingers all over The Overload,” Smith says.
“We’re such a vocal heavy band by trade, so it’s really ace to hear his reimaginings of the tracks largely stripped of that,” Smith continues. “His bass-heavy mixes, for me, are a gorgeous reminder of what supports my ramblings, a reminder of the man I made them with, the backbone of this band, and the genesis of all these musical ideas that started off our adventure together. These mixes pay tribute to the man with 4 strings, those low end things, Mr. Ryan Needham, and whenever I hear this record, not only will I be reminded of the Mad Professor’s greatness, but of our Ry’s as well. NOW GO BLOW SOME SPEAKERS!”
“The Overdub is the natural title,” Mad Professor adds. “When presented with the project, I thought to treat it in the most creative way possible, working with Joe AriwA, Black Steel, and Horseman. Naturally, with such a team, the overdubs came before the dubs!”
Check out the dub version of ‘Pour Another’, titled ‘Pour More’, down below. The Overdub is available exclusively on vinyl now via Rough Trade Records.
The Overdub tracklisting:
- ‘The Overdub’
- ‘Horse Meat’
- ‘Pay Dub’
- ‘Richer Dub’
- ‘Dub Incident’
- ‘Dub a Witness’
- ‘Blind Dub’
- ‘Quarantine the Dub’
- ‘Dub Poppies’
- ‘Pour More’
- ‘100% Dub’
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