Dubbest - Light Flash (Self-published)

The realization of 'Light Flash', their third album to date, took the band more than three years. The title of the album refers to the creative spark the band members felt during their collaboration with producer Craig 'Dubfader' Welsh of 10 Ft. Ganja Plant: "It is a powerful name to us, and it tends to catch one's attention, like an actual flashing light. It's a great fit for this album. The name and the artwork together help bring out the album's edge.". Welsh has a preference for vintage instruments and, among other things, made Dubbest experiment with Fender Stratocasters from the nineteen fifties and a Hammond B3 organ. Additionally the band was joined by a number of stalwarts from the Boston reggae scene like Elliot Martin from John Brown's Body (backing vocals) and Mark Berney, Jared Sims, Brian Thomas and Steve D of 10 Ft. Ganja Plant on horns and keys. 'One Thing' is already a crowd-pleaser during Dubbest live shows, but tunes like lovers tune 'Weeping Heart', the excellent 'Leaving', of which a dub version was also added to the track list, and the dubby 'Give In', is also convincing. And then we're still forgetting to mention highly enjoyable instrumentals like 'Iron Paw' and 'Escape Route', but our personal favorite from the track list is the delicious 'Cross Pollination', in the literal sense a song about cross pollination in flowers, but in actual fact a comment on interracial relationships. The vocals of Ryan Thaxter are beyond reproach, but differ little from those of many other American reggae bands' vocalists, so it was mostly the instrumentation on 'Light Flash' that appealed to us; something that with the presence of Craig Welsh should come as no surprise.