Review of The Drastics - Chicago Massive

In 2005, I was blown away by a group from Chicago called the Drastics, with their release of the album, Premonition. I'll be frank, I'm not a big fan of dub at all. In fact, I tend to enjoy dub from bands that USUALLY don't do Dub (a good example of this would be the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra dub versions). But Premonition was different...it was dub, but it wasn't exactly BORING. When I first heard their track, "Wild Bunch" (featuring the ever awesome, DR. RING DING), I couldn't really stop listening to it...in fact, I probably listened to NOTHING but just that one song for at least a month...it was that good. The album went on to become one of my favorite albums of 2005.

Fast forward one year later, and here we have their second album released on Jump Up Records...titled, "Chicago Massive." It's a massive 2 CD album, with the first CD being instrumentals, and the 2nd one featuring vocals. I have to say though, I am severely disappointed.

Well, if you really love Dub, then chances are, you'll love this. This album took the more traditional rootsy dub route with a more emphasized jazz influence, as well. While the first album also followed the traditional dub "formula", there was just some magic in it that didn't make it boring. The same simply can't be said for this album, at least from my view.

The vocal tracks also disappoint greatly, mostly dancehall tracks, which is a good thing if you're into dancehall, and not so good if you're not (like me). I was disappointed that there wasn't an awesome hip hop track like that last album...10K featuring Vandell Harris (local Chicago Rapper) was one of my favorite tracks from the last album...it was just so sleek, so...hip hop, this album doesn't have much of that. Instead, there is a strong dancehall influence in the vocal tracks this time, which, again, is great, if you're into dancehall.

So to make a long story short? This is a fantastic dub album, if you're a big dub fan. The vocal tracks will also be great for dancehall fans. But me, I'm neither a major fan of dub or Dancehall, and as such, this album really disappointed me, especially when compared with "Premonition"