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Some descriptions get repeated so often that they must get on the nerves of the artist concerned. And in the same way that it's hard to find a review of The Nightingales and not see the words "Birmingham's answer to The Fall", you'll be hard pressed to read one about Akatombo that doesn't mention that he's a "Japan-based Scotsman". I know. I've done it myself. So having got that out of the way straight away let's cut straight to the chase and say that False Positives, his first release since Unconfirmed Reports in 2009, is as strong an album as he has released thus far. Once again there's a real emphasis on percussion – occasionally some beats skip along in almost dance-like fashion (The Right Mistake has an almost Phat Planet feel to it), but most, such as the dubby, hypnotic Shi-Shi Mai, weigh more heavily.
Highlights include the 23 Skidoo-ish Melt Again and Masked, where a brief cinematic opening soon gives away to big echoey beats that sound like they're bouncing off the walls of an empty nightclub. There's something about it that makes me think King Tubby would surely approve. Perhaps best of all, however, is Dominion where an unholy meeting of Hank Marvin and Robert Quine twang away over some deep rooted thudding to great effect.
The album closes with the title track. Here, an almost tribal beat rumbles way beneath a repeated bell effect that plays over and over, building suspense in much the same that Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone did in Once Upon A Time In The West. You know that trouble lies ahead, but before we get to the inevitable shoot-out, everything fades away into the distance. We might not know what happens next, but on the evidence here, it's surely Akatombo who is the one riding into the sunset as his old adversary lies bleeding on the ground.
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