CD reviews: Salmonella Dub – Heal Me – 64

Salmonella Dub

Heal Me

From: EMI/NZ
Genre: Dub Fusion
Music: 4/5
Sound: 4/5

The Kaikoura-based group’s first album without vocalist Tiki Taane – who has left to go solo – has freed the band to up their game and produce their best effort yet. With UK producer David Harrow in tow, they’ve made one of the best-sounding albums ever to come from these shores. The bass is spectacularly deep and hefty, while there’s a stunning depth of sound. Although this aspect accentuates the dub-based nature of their work, Salmonella Dub have also been working, it seems, on their vocals. For the first time here the group are singing in harmony, and sometimes in falsetto, too!

On ‘Watching It Rain’ I wondered if one of the Bee Gees had paid a visit, but overall it works surprisingly well. While some of it is tried and tested Salmonella Dub territory, on ‘Lightning’ they sound like a cross between early New Order and another Manchester group from the same time-frame, the wonderful A Certain Ratio. One of the most enjoyable tracks is an instrumental, ‘Rong’, which is just deliciously spatial and, in its own way, psychedelic. With Heal Me, Salmonella Dub have finally made the kind of panoramic dub-scapes that I always hoped the beautiful setting of Kaikoura would influence them to make. Proof positive that Fat Freddys and all those Wellington bands haven’t come up with anything for SD to fret about.

By Gary Steel