Jim Carroll approves of a new offering from the Ragga Twins.

RAGGA TWINS

Ragga Twins Step Out

Soul Jazz

Back in the day, London brothers David and Trevor Destouche were true roughnecks, a pair of MCs producing prototype jungle sounds long before the scene even had a name to hang it all on. This timely Soul Jazz catch-up, which has a fair few tracks on loan from the frantic Reggae Owes Me Moneyalbum (1991), recalls those busy days when the pair were working with Shut Up and Dance turning dancehall, hip-hop and hardcore moves into something new and peculiar.

That it took everyone else a few years to catch up never bothered the Destouches, who kept on chatting fiercely about drugs, homelessness and rampant right-wing economics. Aside from the fervent intensity of their lyrics, the manner in which the Twins juggled sounds and samples to come up with a brand new template is still something to marvel at.

www.myspace.com/ raggatwins

JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Illegal Gunshot, Spliffhead