The Allergies - As We Do Our Thing

The Allergies released their debut album on Jalapeno Records, which happens to be the same label Smoove & Turrell are on, in May last year. I have only recently discovered the album and I’m glad I did, the two DJ’s who produced this record (Rackabeat and DJ Moneyshot) sample various funk and soul instrumentations, beats, and breaks. They use a lot of vocal samples similar to the way Primal Scream do, but this album is more like a cross between the style of Fatboy Slim and the sounds of James Brown and other funk masters. The title track is a proper funk and soul number, it has such a nice guitar and some great horns, the song showcases their ability to use old school samples and bring them into the contemporary world of dance music.

There are also some guest rappers on the album, with Andy Cooper (from Ugly Duckling’s) featuring on both ‘Blast Off’ and ‘Rock Rock’, his style reminds me of Rizzle Kicks (I mean that as a compliment for any haters). On ‘Blast Off’ it almost feels like they are trying to emulate some elements of DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince’s style, there’s also a reference to ‘No Diggity’ from Blackstreet and Dr. Dre. On ‘Rock Rock’ there’s some wicked drum beats, and it features a strong cowbell, which I always love. The bassline for this is old school and feels Curtis Mayfield like with a solid horn section reminiscent of Mark Ronson’s ‘Ooh Wee’. One of my favourite tracks on this album is ‘Be With You’, it’s disco funk with a massive bass, it’s a really cool song and the music sounds similar to ‘All Night Long’ by Mary Jane Girls. The Allergies know how to create tracks that work for a funk, hip-hop, and dance audience, their aim is to bring funk to the forefront of club music. This is refreshing in an age of mass produced imitations of other charted dance songs (like how Kygo pioneered Tropical House and then numerous artists just copied the style instead of being creative with it).

Another standout track for me is ‘Heartbreaker’, the start sounds similar to ‘Weapon of Choice’ by Fatboy Slim, but the majority of the song is upbeat soul funk with some really cool instruments sampled (you can just picture this working remarkably with a live audience). It’s not surprising that this is a good album because Jalapeno Records consistently produce excellent material in the world of funk, often receiving recognition from respected aficionados of the genre such as Craig Charles. This is worth checking out if you’re a fan of funk or dance, there’s a huge audience for this style of music. As We Do Our Thing is a solid album from The Allergies, whilst there are clearly some stronger tracks than others, on the whole part this album ticks all of the boxes and is definitely worth your time.