In being removed from the machinations of the British music industry, Portishead, while still a good group, doesn’t possess the same heft that other production based projects hold for me – or other Americans, I would venture to say.

In that, though, it remains an endorsement when Geoff Barrow, producer of the aforementioned Bristol based group, wants to release your music. And that’s the state that Malakai, which comprises Gee and Scott, finds itself currently.

Bringing on John “Segs” Jennings from The Ruts for the production assist, finds Ugly Side of Love, Malakai’s debut, being more rooted in rock stuffs than anything from the Portishead catalog.

So when combing the British rock writer cognoscenti for comment, it’s odd that pretty much everyone still finds trip-hop an apt reference point. “Moonsurfin’” and its basic guitar and tambourine formula seem to refute that even as there’s a slight production whir throughout the entire thing.

And in fact, Malakai follows roughly that approach over the remainder of the album. “Another Sun” crops up in much the same fashion as that aforementioned track. And even if “Blackbird” includes a bevy of down-tempo backing, the droning keyboard aligns the effort more with rock stuffs than computer or sample based music.

Regardless of that, Ugly Side of Love sounds like a disc that would sit a few full lengths into a group’s career as opposed to being an opening salvo. So, stick around, there might actually be some trip-hop in the future.

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