The truly great bands are the ones you recognise in an instant – from a snatch of vocal, an inimitable snap and swagger of rhythm, a sonic fingerprint that says this could not possibly be anyone else. That’s the way it is with ‘Bounce’, the spectacular new fourth album by first-generation 2 Tone skankers turned purveyors of joyous political pop The Beat. From the clipped and hectic rude boy shuffle of new tunes ‘Avoid The Obvious’ to the chiming sunshine pop romance of ‘Heaven Hiding’ through to ‘Fire Burn’s heavy-duty righteousness, ‘Bounce’ shows off every gleaming aspect of the most musically diverse band to come out of the multiracial, multicultural explosion that remade British pop from 1979 onwards. ‘Bounce’ is the first album from The Beat in over 30 years and released on independent label DMF Records. Written by a combination of Ranking Roger, Mick Lister and Ranking Junior, it has been produced by Mick Lister (Bad Company, Amy Winehouse, The Feeling) and mixed by Tim Hamill and Mick Lister except Side to Side and My Dream mixed by Dennis Bovell (The Slits, Madness). The same energy that drove the hit singles of the 80s; ‘Mirror In The Bathroom’, ‘Stand Down Margaret’ and ‘Too Nice To Talk To’ – reggae looseness plus razor-sharp song-writing meets the paranoid pace of punk – is here again.

Uncut are working on a substantial piece on the 2 Tone generation in 2016. The idea is hooked around the fact that three of those bands – Madness, The Specials and The Beat – are all active during the coming months. The piece will address the bands’ current projects alongside a wider discussion about the social landscape of contemporary Britain.