Bhangra - New Release - Juggy Kang.. Straight Up

Last week saw the debut release of Huddersfield's very own Juggy Kang. "Straight Up" is a 8 track album released on the xplosive soundz label.

Here are my views on the album:

1. Addi Maarey (Ravi Duggal) - This is the stand out track on the album. It's definitely one for the dance floor. Comparisons to "tera dil chahida" by Gupsy Aujla (album Aftershock), are inevitable.

2. Teriya (Ravi Duggal) - After a dance floor hit, Juggy delivers a ballad, still using the same vocalist. It's an ok track, nothing to uproot trees or anything.

3. Boliyan (Goga Thakkar) - The boliyan are pretty good, and the vocals are good too. This will also be popular at weddings as track 1.

4. Ki Lagdi (Ravinder Malri) - I'm not too sure about this track, i think the vocals are slightly out of place.

5. PSD (Ravi Duggal) - A more traditional track, "Putt Sardaran De" has plenty of "hoye hoye's" and plenty of dhol. The thing is theres so many "Putt Sardaran De" tracks out there, and therefore to stand out from the rest, your track has to be totally different or simply amazing. I'm afraid this is neither.

6. Akhan (Bhagwant Pawar) - Again its rather mediocre. The vocals are good on this track.

7. Chanjar - (Sharon Gidda) - A female vocalist for this track, its a nice easy tempo. However again it just doesn't stand out. Its another "listen once" track.

8. Pyar - (Jaswinder Patti) - Not a bad track with a more upbeat tempo than the previous track.

Overall thoughts:

Xplosive sounds are a new label and have talent such as Gupsy Aujla on board.
Their latest offering is ok, but as the rest of the industry seems to be plagued with album fillers, this album is no different. It gets off to a flying start with "addi maare", but then goes downhill pretty much after that.

In its defence for a debut album it is ok, and the fact that Juggy Kang does not use the much over used Lembher Hussainpuri is somewhat refreshing. I think Juggy Kang has the potential, as can be seen from "addi Maarey", to become a decent producer. Whether he fulfills that potential is another thing.

The bhangra industry has recently been slightly maligned with allegations of "ghost production" on almost every new album. How much "ghost production" has been done on this album is any ones guess. You do sense an eerie resemblance to Gupsy Aujla's album, maybe the fact that both Juggy and Gupsy are Huddersfield lads would explain this.

Overall Rating: 6/10 - A lot of folks would argue its simply a one track album.

Here's the video for the "addi maarey" track: