“dub_narcotic”
Dub Narcotic
Out Of Your Mind
K
Somehow, Dub Narcotic always ends up sounding like the jam after rehearsal is over, half the band has left, and a couple of friends have stayed on to finish the beer and mess around with the departed’s instruments. Easily falling into a groove, Dub Narcotic’s music is bottom-heavy, rhythmic, repetitive and an all-too appropriate complement to Calvin Johnson’s deep and disaffected voice – think of the Addams Family’s Lurch fronting a mix of Led Zeppelin freaks and irie stoners. Listening to Johnson intone “Teenage Time Bomb” over and over makes you look at the neighbors’ kid in a new, unwholesome fashion. The subsequent “Dub Narcotic’s Delight” is a slow and oceanic piece featuring electric piano flourishes and a harmonica that sounds like it was recorded at a prairie campfire. A vocal guest turn by Miranda July on “Out of Your Mind” provides an interesting counterpoint to Johnson’s rumbling basso, as she chants “bee ay dee em ay again en” along happily jangled soft funk.
Dub Narcotic never seems to be at a loss for a new album. Their sound appears to be somewhat formulaic at its surface, but below lies an apparently never-ending font of musical creativity. Slip it in and fall into a trance… K Records, Box 7154, Olympia, WA 98507
