The Pama boys return with their latest offering ‘Love Filled Dub Band’ on their newly formed Rockers Revolt label. My buddy Sean was kind enough to hand me a sneak preview of the finished product. I excitedly went straight home and gave it a good spin and here’s the result….

As with the single ‘Highrise’ the album has been produced by both John Collins (famous for the iconic Specials tune ‘Ghost Town’) and Sean Flowerdew. The resulting twelve tracks, all of which are inspired by the classic bygone days of the music we love, are edgy, gritty and many are downright heavyweight. Take the cut ‘Tomorrow’s News Today’; when this drops you’ll be forgiven for thinking you’ve gone back in time. Cut from the same cloth as Tubby and Perry in their heyday, this track features wonderful victory-style horns which blaze over a relentless bass driven riddim - pure, heavyweight, roots killa! The same can be said for the up-tempo roots driven ‘Throwaway Society’, a tune tackling the commercial greed and wastefulness of today’s society.

Whereas the previous album, ‘Trojan Sessions’, was a more polished affair ‘Love Filled’ has a more tenacious feel. Inspiration comes from the vaults of Black Ark, King Tubby and the yesteryears of Stax Records; add to this the unique style and pattern of the Pama crew and you have a real special piece of work.

Opening with a huge dose of funky Reggae ‘Wherever You Lead’ is a lively, danceable, Stax Records inspired cut which beautifully sets you up for the remainder of the album. ‘Lovely Wife’ swiftly follows with no let up in the tempo; wonderful muted horns, courtesy of Rico Rodriguez, drift over a pounding bass riddim and superbly played drum pattern. The dub of this track, ‘Lovely Dub’, appears towards the end of the album and is truly awesome! You’ll also discover an instrumental, organ led cut of ‘Wherever You Lead’, entitled ‘Orgon Will Follow’ which could have easily been lifted from the back catalogue of Jackie Mitoo, pure old time keyboard classic – a huge favourite of mine.

The latest single ‘Highrise’ features on the album. The track rides the classic ‘Cherry Oh Baby’ riddim, bringing it bang up-to-date, while keeping the old time vibe very much alive. The track features the uncompromising style and lyrics of Michie One and tackles the issues of gun/knife crime within our communities. Lynval Golding takes the lead vocals on the magnificent ‘Wonder Wonder’, a beautifully constructed tune with Lynval’s style reminiscent of the old deejay days. The penultimate track ‘The Race for Inner Space’ is a surprisingly mellow and laid-back affair, exploring the need for inner peace. Beautiful melodies and soft guitar rifts float over the riddim complementing Finny’s exquisite vocals. The album rounds off with a marvellous and inspired surprise tune entitled ‘By My Guest’, a terrific first-rate funk cut which just can’t be ignored!

I can’t recommend ‘Love Filled' enough; it has all the ingredients to be a major success. Many of the tunes finish with a solid couple of minutes of dubbed-up instrumental, which adds a fantastic extra element to the album. The musicianship is first class; the production crisp and the sound fresh with a harder edge than previous releases. To top it off the CD even comes packaged in a fabulous cardboard vinyl-style sleeve! A must own!

Review by JumpUp

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