In the late 90's and early 2000's, Reggae and Dub formed the heart of the NZ music scene, with bands like Rhombus, Fat Freddy's Drop and Salmonella Dub (among many others) pumping out so much high quality original music that the Roots sound became synonymous with the idea of NZ music.

But nothing lasts forever, and despite a few notable exceptions (Kora and TOI for example) the scene slowly homogenised into a cloying mix of chart-baiting BBQ reggae pop nonsense and vapid club hungry dance tracks.

So when I heard Salmonella Dub had a new double full length album For All Things Alive coming out I wasn't exactly optimistic. But any preconceived misgiving I may have had were immediately dispelled upon hearing the very first track.

Split into two discs For All Things Alive feels like a chronological anthology of Salmonella Dub's musical journey through time. Disc 1 begins with Sprang It a song so emblematic of early Dub it sounds like an unreleased track someone in the band accidentally rediscovered buried in a box marked '1995' while looking for their prized collection of classic X-Men cards. Everything from the minimalist instrumentation to the slow paced groove is on point, it even has the delay and reverb soaked ethereal vocal hooks that were a vital part of Salmonella Dub's early sound. 

Following this up is Hands In The Soil, another OG dub classic only with a much more modern message "Get offline and go touch grass", a message we are all familiar with, but which the importance of only seems to increase with time. (I say this while writing an online review and listening to the album off a website...)

For All Things Alive brings up the tempo and introduces the Drum and Bass element that Salmonella Dub steadily developed into their sound, helping to launch them into international success while becoming a staple on the European festival circuit right up to the present day.

Disk 2 starts off with Monday Roller a Trip Hop banger that appears to be recorded somewhat uniquely by psychedelically teleporting the tracks through time directly from the ears of an ecstasy fuelled candy raver tripping balls in an abandoned factory sometime in the late 90's and straight into the sound desk. 

Next we get a couple more true to form old school Dub numbers; Crittah and No Autopsy, as we build back up in tempo and into what has to be the most unique song on the album. Same Time is a musical Jambalaya of Dub, DnB and early internet outsider nerd pop that is reluctantly being fused together in a pressure cooker held together by harmonically distorted stoner rock guitar riffs that seem just as confused as they are excited to be in this situation. The song comes so close to being an incoherent and Kafkaesque cacophony, that it in fact does not, and instead absolutely slaps, fills me with a kind of cheeky admiration and joy that leaves me smiling like the Mona Lisa.

With Kowhai Dub we finish back where we started, a musically sparse and glacially paced authentic Dub track so wet with reverb it sounds like it could have been recorded live by Jamaican mermen in a 12th century stone cathedral.

All together For All Things Alive feels like some kind of meta concept album written with 'Brand New Classic Hits'. It's commendable the way Salmonella Dub have retraced their musical journey through time and recreated sounds so specific to past musical eras.

For All Things Alive stands as a testament that you don't have to pander to the idea that newer necessarily means better, sometimes a classic recipe is fine just the way it is, and when cooked with integrity by skilled chefs, it can be just as delicious today as it was back then.

• 1
  Head Like A Hole
• 2
  Horror Story
• 3
  Fraser Ross
• 4
  Fur Patrol
• 5
  Michelle Rounds
• 6
  L.A.B.
• 7
  Devilskin
• 8
  Coridian
• 9
  The Boondocks
• 10
  Late to Chelsea

• 
  LOST BiRD @ Space Academy, Christchurch - 15/12/2024
• 
  Just Janie @ Space Academy, Christchurch - 15/12/2024
• 
  Dream Chambers @ Meow Nui, Wellington - 14/12/2024
• 
  The Phoenix Foundation @ Meow Nui, Wellington - 14/12/2024

• 1
  APT.
  ROSÉ And Bruno Mars
• 2
  DIE WITH A SMILE
  Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
• 3
  BIRDS OF A FEATHER
  Billie Eilish
• 4
  TASTE
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 5
  I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
  Gracie Abrams
• 6
  ESPRESSO
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 7
  SAILOR SONG
  Gigi Perez
• 8
  LOSE CONTROL
  Teddy Swims
• 9
  A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
  Shaboozey
• 10
  GOOD LUCK, BABE!
  Chappell Roan

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