Salmonella Dub - Freak Controller

Freak Controller cover. Photo / Supplied

Rating: * * * *

In contrast to Salmonella Dub's last album, Heal Me, which was overly mellow in mood, the band's seventh album Freak Controller has more life, variety, and therefore depth.

Heal Me found the band in a transition period since it was the first album without Tiki Taane, the writer of hits like For the Love Of It. This time round as a core trio, made up of founding members Andrew Penman (guitar), Dave Deakins (drums/vocals), and Mark Tyler (bass), and a range of guests, including Maori diva Whirimako Black and producer Paddy Free, they have hunkered down to create something that's often playful and sometimes stirring.

Reggae ska single Freak Local - which could just as well be more like freak loco - is one of the band's catchiest songs since Love Your Ways, although because of its jaunty bounce, it's a little more annoying; and on a more fiery level there's the rock'n'roll drum'n'bass of Walk Into Your Mind. But Salmonella are at their best here when space, echo and beats converge on the likes of the beautifully brassy and smooth Wisdom By Default and Rhythm and Pattern, and the ambient dub trip of last track Deep In Southland.

While the Salmonella formula hasn't changed much over the years - it's still rooted in dub, with drum'n'bass, soul and rock elements - it's remarkable how fresh they're sounding after more than 15 years as a band.

Scott Kara