Dub Trio
Another Sound Is Dying

Mmmmm.... this record leaves me puzzled; it's not clear where the three lads from Brooklyn intend to go. Perhaps expectations were high, considering the name of the illustrious label. It's like watching a soccer match with Cassano playing and waiting 90 minutes for the great play that strangely never arrives. You'll agree with me that it's a bit unusual.

Well, with the electrifying "New Heavy," Dub Trio made us glimpse the makings of champions, but when called upon to repeat on the same standards, they failed. Here, my friends and ladies and gentlemen, what's missing is personality, the desire to astonish, those strokes of genius that would intrigue and jolt the listener. Traits we believed were their hallmark. Not so; our guys still hit hard here and there, but rarely do they decisively hit the mark.

The opener "Not For Nothing" is a nice summary of their style and adds tasty inflections: a lowered riff in full 90s style, a dub twist (they're not called that for nothing!), and a not-bad drone doom slowdown. "Jog On" gives us a "morelliana" memory guitar strung in acid that fights with sweet metallic clatterings in the background. For the more tender-hearted, there's also "Felicitation" and "Respite" where Dp Holmes and company play at being Mogwai but fail to achieve it with rather questionable melodic solutions. "The Midnight Rider" is the experiment/mockery that the acclaimed King Buzzo/Crover team wouldn't hesitate to place on any (or almost any) of their albums; the only vocal track is "No Flag" with their mentor Mike Patton, who offers the usual over-the-top performance. It would have fit well on "The Director's Cut," but it’s not a soundtrack remake, so out with it! Tracks like "Regression Line" and "Who Wants To Die?" truly have an unclear logic, lackluster displays of technique and craft. "Bay vs Leonard" is still here to show us that their class isn't lost: an embittered riff that drills into your brain (could they be the angry Iron Maiden?) meshes perfectly with the rhythmic evolutions of a creeping dub. But we're at the end, and it’s too little; really too little for them.

Since I'm hopeful and a misstep can happen, we'll be waiting for them at the turning point. But next time, no mistakes will be allowed.