Bush Rock

Album Review

For nearly ten years now, 10 Ft. Ganja Plant (which started out as a side project of the great Ithaca, NY reggae band John Brown's Body) has been making albums of unapologetically backward-looking, strictly rootswise, and mostly instrumental dub and reggae. It's no insult to say that Bushrock sounds very much like the group's previous four releases, because stylistic progression is not the point here. The point is the celebration of a particular sound: a warm, wet, very bass-heavy vibe that is deeply influenced by those of the great reggae studios of old: Dynamic Sounds, Channel One, and (especially) Lee "Scratch" Perry's infamous Black Ark. As usual, the focus is on instrumentals, but Bushrock also features some fine vocal performances by Slightly Stoopid singer Kyle McDonald, who stands out particularly on "Too Much Gun a Bust," a vintage-style calling-out of street ruffians and gangsters, and on the wonderfully dubbed-up "10 Ft. Ganja Plant and Weed"." As always, the members of the band proper remain unidentified, which is kind of too bad — it would be nice to be able to name and give props to the bassist, who is a genius (and who sounds a lot like David Gould) and the melodica player (who really shines on "Machete Strike"). But you don't have to know who's behind it to recognize and enjoy the genius of this completely unoriginal and utterly fantastic roots reggae band.