free download! blayer pointdujour marries punk to haitian kompa and the results are epic. #soundcheck

Blayer Pointdujour has been gaining attention since he and his backing band The Rockers Galore dropped The Port Au Prince EP last year. An ecstatic mix of reggae, funk, hip-hop, and rock with a healthy dosage of Haitian kompa music, the band has a truly unique sound. Their debut record is The Bull and it sounds like nothing else.
Lead single “1804” is an ode to the Haitian slave uprising of 1804 that won Haiti its independence. (It turns out Pat Robertson was wrong and it wasn’t because Haitians sold their soul to the devil in exchange for independence. And he’s never wrong about anything! Oh wait.) The track emits a rare fire, bursting at the seams with passion and ideas. And guitarist Ian Nauroth is never hotter. You can download it now from their soundcloud page.

The rest of the record often leans heavier on their kompa and reggae influences, but ignites when Blayer and co summon the same passion they have on 1804. Like on “Gunz of Philly” and “Iron Dred” when Blayer tries to incite the same revolutionary spirit that led to Haitian independence in America. “a free people / free from the capitalist man’s game / what happened in Haiti can still happen today / revolution, the world is ours to get up and take / kill your slave masters, unity equals change.” It’s pretty common for anarcho-punks to lay their message on top of reggae, but it’s rare (and frankly the results are a lot better…) to approach the same union from the other side. Pointdujour is a reggae/kompa artist who just happens to be a radical punk. “In DIY we trust” he sings on “Natty Onez.” The motto for a new nation. And I can’t help but wonder if it’s a coincidence that he’s sending out his revolutionary message on the eve of the year anniversary of Occupy.

The record drops today September 18th.

– Words by Nathan Leigh