Rapture feat. Terry Hall

Beat warriors and party-starters par excellence, Dub Pistols, return to the front line with an audacious cover of Blondie’s ‘Rapture’; their first single for Rob da Banks’ superlative Sunday Best label. Released on the 2nd February 2007, ‘Rapture’ is a precursor to the band’s ‘Speakers And Tweeters’ long player, which will drop a week later.

Featuring lead vocals from legendary former Specials and Fun Boy Three front-man, Terry Hall, a long-time collaborator and now full time band member, the Dub Pistols have taken the 1981 classic, Hip-Hop’s first bona fide number 1, and treated it to a truly exceptional update. Classic horns, guitar stabs and rim-shots ride over rolling, electro bass and pumping beats, as Terry Hall makes Debbie Harry’s song his own, with his trademark aloof, almost comatose delivery, adding a sultry flavour to the dubwise grooves.

Dance-floor interests are addressed by a consummate mix package.  The Dubs themselves deliver a Breaks flavoured, rocky interpretation with their ‘Combat Rock mix’ and a full on four-to-the-floor proto-Electro House rinse with their ‘Stevie Nicks Dirty tricks Mix’, before handing the reigns over to young turk Richard Dinsdale, who turns in a pair of jackin’ smashers, that take the track into dirty, late night territory. Utilising the full vocal for a techy, bass driven workout on his Original mix, whilst some filthy, distorted riffing takes centre stage on his Neo Geo mix. Norwegian remix-meister Prins Thomas gives things a delicious leftfield House slant on his Diskomiks, adding the deep, soulful, chugging groove that has made his name.  Finally, Gecko & Pigboy crack open the squelching bass for a peak-time pop at dance-floor devastation.