POP REVIEW : David Rudder’s Potent Soca

David Rudder’s local debut at the Music Machine on Saturday with Charlie’s Roots, his regular seven-piece backing band from Trinidad, clearly established the singer as the most potent representative of the vibrant soca sound. From the opening chorus of “Rally ‘Round the West Indies,” Rudder’s 90-minute set hit the near-capacity audience with such force that most people moving around the club weren’t walking--they were rockin’ along to the rhythm.

The performance also impressively stretched the parameters of soca beyond the party-hearty lyrics and relentless groove-a-thon epitomized by “Hot, Hot, Hot,” the soca song best known to audiences here. Rudder re-injected some of the political commentary of classic calypso, and slowed down and broke up the soca groove without losing its flow or rhythmic force.

What really stood out was the dynamics--the tight arrangements frequently started with triumphal, anthemic choruses, then dropped the energy level down before building to explosive, hook-laden finales. Rudder, a benign yet forceful frontman, worked the crowd without making it feel that it had been worked over.

Rudder may not have quite the poetic, visionary quality of Bob Marley, but with a major label behind him, he could easily be the next Caribbean artist to break through in a big way.