New Age Steppers - Foundation Steppers (LP)

By the time Foundation Steppers landed in 1983, Adrian Sherwood’s New Age Steppers had already proven that dub could be a welcoming home for post‑punk wanderers. This third full‑length on On‑U Sound tightens the focus without losing the unruly spirit that made the project a magnet for kindred outsiders. You can feel Sherwood at the desk, teasing out depths from the rhythm section, then letting vocals drift in like radio signals from a different room. It is a record that moves with purpose, relaxed but heavy, built for long afternoon plays that spill into night.

New Age Steppers was never a fixed band, more a rolling conversation between UK post‑punk and Jamaican-rooted dub. Ari Up, the inimitable voice of The Slits, brings a wiry, mischievous energy when she steps to the mic, while the late Bim Sherman supplies the kind of weightless, haunting calm that can make the riddim feel like it is levitating. Around them, Sherwood convenes players from his On‑U family, including rhythm architects associated with Creation Rebel and Dub Syndicate. You hear that chemistry in the drums and bass first. Style meets space. Notes hang. Echoes curl back on themselves until a simple line feels monumental.

Sherwood’s approach to production is the quiet star here. He treats the studio like an instrument, shaping air as much as sound. The details are tactile. Snares clipped short, hi‑hats sprayed with light delay, bass figures carved to the bone, then warmed by spring reverb that seems to open new windows in the mix. It never reads as gimmickry. The songs breathe. Vocals fade into dubs that feel like memory taking over from narrative, which is very On‑U, very early 80s London, when record shops and sound systems encouraged bold cross‑pollination as a matter of course.

What sets Foundation Steppers apart from the two earlier LPs is how assured it feels. The debut had the giddy thrill of discovery. Action Battlefield leaned into brash collage. This one stands tall and unhurried. Melodies glide rather than jostle. The groove locks sooner and stays put. If you come to New Age Steppers for that cool collision of punk nerve and roots gravity, this is the album where the balance clicks into place. It is both heady and welcoming, a record you can hand to a curious friend and say, start here.

The broader story matters too. On‑U Sound was a genuine meeting ground, and this album sits near the heart of that scene. It is not just a time capsule. It is a blueprint for how borderless dub can be, and how singers as different as Ari Up and Bim Sherman can thrive in the same space. When people talk about UK bass culture as a continuum, the lines often trace back to moments like this, where independent labels, adventurous producers, and a rotating cast of fearless players built something sturdy from scraps and instinct.

If you hunt for New Age Steppers vinyl, you will know these records have a life on the racks. Copies get loved to death, then passed on, groove‑worn but still potent. On‑U Sound’s 2021 remaster series made it easier to hear this music as it deserves to be heard, and it gave the whole catalog fresh ears. Publications that revisited the reissues praised the way these albums still feel alive, with Foundation Steppers often singled out for its poise and depth. It sounds right again on a decent system, bass moving the room at modest volume, surface noise tucking into the mix like an old friend.

If you are the type who flips through bins on Saturdays, this is one to grab whenever it appears. Foundation Steppers vinyl belongs next to the Slits, Singers & Players, and early Dub Syndicate, all part of the same conversation. And if you buy New Age Steppers records online, you will see how often this title gets recommended alongside other On‑U landmarks. New Age Steppers albums on vinyl reward repeat plays, but this one especially reveals its layers slowly, so it earns a permanent slot on the turntable. Even if you are reading this in a Melbourne record store or browsing vinyl records Australia late at night, the pull is the same. Drop the needle, let the room take on that On‑U pressure, and you will understand why this 1983 set still feels like a foundation.