DC's frontrunners when it comes to combo-ing up some reggae with dub with funk with ska with etc etc etc is hands down Lucky Dub who killed it in our recent poll for Band of the Month. From the large line-up of musicians, we got a hold of John Baker (bass guitar) and Gordon Daniels (vocals/acoustic guitar) to shed some light on what makes Lucky Dub so dubtastic. Here they talk about worldwide reggae, Patty Boom Booms, and their upcoming Remix EP. Now on to the interview...
Lucky Dub's release Mindset is now available. Check out this video of them performing "Freedom Man" at DC9 with special guest vocalist Mamoudou Balde from Senegal. And catch them at Ram's Head Live in Baltimore on Nov. 12.
Friendly People’s debut, self-titled 3-song EP gives a concise taste of a promising young Cambridge, MA-based band. Their jangly indie pop is peppered with hints of Americana, roots rock and folk with vocals that owe a debt to Neil Young. The EP’s clear highlight is its opening track—their namesake song—“Friendly People”. It’s a tremendous, positive track buoyed by a horn section in the bridge which lends a mariachi feel. “A Lot of Work To Do” brings out Harvest-era Neil Young, starting as a plaintive acoustic ditty which builds slowly into a passionate electric number. Closing track, “Branches”, follows the same acoustic-to-electric path. As the song builds, it introduces tribal rhythms that are reminiscent of 80s indie-punk legends, the Volcano Suns. Friendly People are scheduled to record their debut full-length in March. If the Friendly People EP is indicative of what we can expect from this young group’s next batch of tunes it will be a record to keep an eye on later in 2012.--George Dow
