This is the 2010 debut album from Lotek.
I was drunk when I bought this album... both alcoholically, and high on the buzz at the end of a great gig. It was the first time I'd heard of Lotek, and out of the blue this band delivered an infectious set of bouncy dancehall goodness. So I duly purchased their album.
Rebel Hifi kicks things off with a very nice groove, but the over-the-top dubstep flourishes aren't to my taste.
Don't Want No is similarly very heavy dub, although the ridiculous bass-quakes are hilarious. It was about this point I started wondering what on earth was going on with this album! I was expecting the feelgood dancehall style from the gig, but this was turning out to be more like Skrillex...
Dub Makes Fools Of Us All is more like it. Bouncy, danceable rocksteady; life is good. But then it descends into sparse dub, which I found very disappointing. (warning: rant incoming!) For me, the appeal of dub is the endless repetition, while slowly making subtle changes. A slow-burn journey, but when you look back you realise how far you've come. But dubstep trades this evolution for instantaneous flashes of effects, and it's not my cup of tea.
Dreader Than Dub also is exactly what I was hoping for, and thankfully it holds that style throughout the song. (although I do find it very similar to the groove of The Herd's We Can't Hear You on The Sun Never Sets).
And let's end the review here, because I have nothing nice to say about the remainder of the album...
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