Dub Pistols: Six Million Ways To Live : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

The title of the Dub Pistols' second album plays on dance-hall star Cutty Ranks' famous line, "Six million ways to die - choose one." These Londoners' upbeat variation on that phrase fits - there's nothing fatalistic about this bouncy collection of studio-slick dub, boppy big beat and frisky rapping. The album's twelve songs bump with daffy rubber-band resilience, and most bleed enough can't-stop/won't-stop energy to keep any club kid occupied. But spongy dub workouts are the Pistols' strong suit. "Crazy" comes strapped with monstrous, dizzying low-end frequencies and reggae old-schooler Horace Andy's wavering, half-swallowed vocals; an undeniable horn riff melds with low-slung percussion to make "Big World" memorable. Unfortunately, the group's attempt to crib adrenalin from hip-hop MCs backfires - Fresno, California's scrappy Planet Asia is the only guest rapper nimble enough to move crowds on both sides of the Atlantic. Clumsy rhymes aside, though, the Pistols' funky break-beat anthems and blunted dub excursions deserve a spin.

KATHRYN MCGUIRE
(RS 874 - August 2, 2001)