Engaging in a dub journey by taking the express train to Jamaica always means safer sex, when compared to the dive into the wide unknown of adding less-saturated elements to the bill. That's exactly what Canartic, a band from Austin, Texas, does in "Bouncing Radar Beams Off the Moon". And one also has to give the guys some credit for the great title they came up with.
It would be unfair and, above all, incorrect to state that these Texans only have dub and reggae written in their DNA. For the sake of accuracy, in their second full-length, Canartic is how Lee "Scratch" Perry would sound like if he ever artistically hooked up with Slint. And on tracks like "London 67", they even resemble Norway's electronic favorites Röyksopp.
The problem with dub is that it sometimes lacks consistency in its smokey, infatuated delivery. That doesn't happen on numbers like "Syd's Psychedelic Adventure", simply because Randall Peterson's guitar and Gerard Smith's bass are not regarded as furniture but rather as key figures. By "Pie Eyed Piper", you should have realized that this is not a dub record, but a post-dub, psychedelic, slowed-down post-rock album of sorts.
And let us not forget Jon Coates' great job in the rhythm and sound section. He is what links the lighthearted Marley's nephews to the more mature King Tubby's dub roots. Unlike most reggae-oriented works, Canartic's never gets drowsy. After a somehow lethargic cut like "The Soft Collapse", there's always a drone-built "Narcatic" (read narcotic) to wake you up. It really saves a lot of your caffeine money.
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