The Echodelic Sounds of Future Pigeon:Future Pigeon

Artist: Future Pigeon

Date Released: April 11, 2006

Label: Record Collection

Produced By: Tom Chasteen

Tracklisting:
 * 1) Gift Tax
 * 2) The Mummy
 * 3) Evil (Eatin at My Soul)
 * 4) Yuppy Conqueror
 * 5) High Rolling feat. Ranking Joe
 * 6) Atom Smasher Dub
 * 7) Wicked Man
 * 8) Wicked Version feat. Mikey Dread
 * 9) Cybernetic Killer
 * 10) Money Money feat. Ras Congo
 * 11) Setting Son

Review: For the most part, the white boy punk/ska/reggae scene of southern California died the day Sublime frontman Brad Nowell did, and we were left with cheesy groups like the Long Beach Dub Allstars who appealed only to stoned frat-boys who thought they were dub-reggae fanatics just because they owned Sublime (the album) (and rarely even dove into their much better back catalogue). L.A.’s Future Pigeon collective, featuring members of Beachwood Sparks and Wiskey Biscuit among others, comes dangerously close to this cheese line, but seems to sidestep it just in the nick of time. I’m sure this is because of the Adrian Sherwood-esqe production techniques of Tom Chasteen. Also adding to the cause are soundsystem veterans like Mikey Dread and Ranking Joe, whose tracks are unsurprisingly the best on the album. Each song is extremely busy, combining reggae, dub, ska and funk with production tricks and echoing sound effects, but Chasteen keeps everything in line, never letting a track become too cluttered. Jason Mason’s vocals are forgettable and his lyrics are extremely predictable, but really, what reggae isn’t? As a whole the album is decent with a couple impressive tracks (the ones with guest artists), but in this day and age, it’s probably the best modern dub-reggae you can find. Personally, I’ll always reach back for my King Tubby, Lee “Scratch” Perry and Dr. Alimantado discs first. Mpardaiolo