Rhombus: Bass Player

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * )

Yet another album from the seemingly interconnected Wellington dance/dub/hip-hop scene, the debut effort from Rhombus has frequent moments where the blend of beats, bass and voices achieves lift-off.

That includes the opener Onward (a propulsive piece of rap-reggae with hints of the Stereo MC's and Bob Marley's Exodus), the single Clav Dub (a brassy, summery blast reminiscent of Salmonella Dub and not just because is has that band's Tiki Taane as guest vocalist), Tour of Outer Space (a slow-loping number, which care of Raashi Malik's graceful vocal suggests Sade in a different orbit) and Dead and Gone (Malik again whispering over a house-throb).

But much of the other 11 tracks ramble rather than rumble, among them Spaceman with its sci-fi scat vocal from Imon Star about "my big black rocket". While they've fought off the temptation to have the seemingly compulsory "Dub" in their name, it's on three of the tracks. While not many of the songs go for long without yet another Rhombus name-check.

Like their geometric namesake, the area they cover seems to beg a formula which is less complicated than it first appears. Even so, they still sound a little one-dimensional.

Label: FMR