In the right hands, a bass can hit you in the chest like a kung-fu kick. Drums can rattle your brain, making you wonder if the echo you're hearing is coming from the music or from within your own skull. Horns can pierce your heart and guitar can kick out your kneecaps and have you begging for more.
With that said, "Dub Is A Weapon" is an apt name for the new group out of NYC.
Perhaps some of the reason is that guitarist Dave Hahn is also a dope sound engineer with a great ear for the bass-heavy sound of reggae and dub bands. In fact, it was at the live Dub Side of the Moon show in Richmond, VA that I met him while he was working the boards. Other members of the group include percussionist Larry McDonald (Gil Scott-Heron, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh), keyboardist Brian Jackson (Gil Scott-Heron), trombonist Aaron Johnson (Antibalas), and vocalist Ashanti Roy (The Congos).
The group's self-titled debut album is packed with ten dubwise tracks that will give goose bumps to fans of old school roots dub as well as the active Adrian Sherwood sound. These aren't the types of tracks that will have you dosing off to sleep with basic repetition and rhythms. They come at you from every angle, attacking your senses and assaulting your sense of stability. In other words, pretty much everything you'd ever want from dub.
Two tracks feature vocalists. Rob Symmeon steps to the mic on "Leave I & I." As on his earlier work with Easy Star, Symmeon's voice is relaxed and controlled, without any fancy tricks. The hook is catchy and the rolling basslines carry his vocals beautifully. Vocalist Ashanti Roy from The Congo contributes on the haunting "Pray," with similarly strong results.
The remaining eight dub tracks show us exactly what Dub Is A Weapon is made of, from the rollicking drums on "Inertia" to the slow-and-steady pace of "Chuang Tzu" (side note: if you've never read Chuang Tzu's Wandering the Way, you should) to the great show-opening sounds of the title track. It goes without saying that the engineering is excellent. I'm very much looking forward to hearing what this massive does in the future, helping to keep reggae and dub alive in the United States.
Find out more about Dub Is A Weapon and hear some of their music at dubisaweapon.com.
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