Dub Trio - New Heavy Review
by Travis Becker
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Dub Trio's new release, New Heavy, features a track with vocals by Mike Patton. That, in and of itself, is enough to get a few people to check this record out. Guest appearances often serve that purpose, look at most any Rap album on the shelves-they're loaded with guest spots. This one, though, works completely. Primarily known as an instrumental group blending the cut and paste mentality of Dub with heavy, noisy guitars, Dub Trio finds a perfect fit for their eclectic mix. It would be a crime if Dub Trio and Patton didn't collaborate on a full length release. All of that being said, once you get past "Not Alone", the Patton-belted track, a very unique album waits in the wings for any with the open-minded patience to check it out.
Since Dub probably doesn't get a ton of coverage alongside Rock and Metal, here's what it is in a nutshell. Back in the late Sixties, Reggae ruled Jamaica. Some of the DJ's spinning Reggae records were getting bored and started to play the instrumental tracks on the back. The crowd would sing along, or the DJ would add his own lyrics and a good time was had by all once again. Then came the next wave of studio techs and DJ's who got bored again and started messing with the instrumental tracks, adding effects like echo and chopping pieces or dropping elements out of the recordings. Basically the modern remix was born. Fast forward to today, add in some much heavier duty technology, and you've got some tripped out music.
Dub Trio's sound floats along for the most part with the trademark loping backbeat of Dub. The bass is often accentuated to make it more danceable. Every once in a while though, Stu Brooks, DP Holmes, and Joe Tomino throw a wrench in the whole thing and just drop in a landscape flattening riff. On "Cool Out and Coexist" the band kicks off the song with a thundering double bass drum assault that would crush on a Death Metal record. "Jack Bauer" also stands up to be noticed with its heaviness, but the bulk of the record is very low key. Low key in a good way, mind you. This is a good mellow album, worthy of repeated listens to catch all of the exceptional instrumentation going on. All of the band members are well-regarded session players and it shows in the professional production and performance.
Honestly, the album is worth picking up if you're a Patton fan as the song on which he's featured is excellent. If you're a fan of Dub, give this band a try, they have their own spin on it for sure. If you're neither one, New Heavy is still worth sampling if you have a twelve pack and an hour to burn.
CD Info and Links
Dub Trio - New Heavy Label:ROIR Records Inc
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