The Summer Is Ending, And We Are Still Not Saved

Wailing Souls: Fire House Rock
from Fire House Rock (Shanachie 1980)

Scientist: The Mummy's Shroud
from Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires (Greensleeves 1981)


As the number of days to September 22 (the official start of Fall for 2005) draws nearer my dislike for the summer season lessens and my mood mellows just a bit and ironically I find myself listening more and more to music and songs that bring to mind the apex of the summer season.

The first track is one such song. The roots classic Fire House Rock is a mixture of pure perfection. Like a finely layered baklava, the combination of The Wailing Souls singing, the Roots Radics backing band, Henry "Junjo" Lawes production and The Scientist engineering the sound, everything works to perfection and each piece complements the others. From the opening sound of the familiar drum roll and chirping birds to the infectious scat and howls of the singer, the song brings to mind all that is enjoyable about summer (even I can't argue that summer isn't a beautiful season). In fact this whole album screams musical perfection and you do yourself a great disservice if you don't go out and buy a copy of it in whatever format you find it in.

Next up is the dub version of the same song from Scientist. Taking the instrumentation of Fire House Rock, Overton "Scientist" Brown laces it with just the right amount of reverb, vocal editing, and thickens up the bass and percussion to a molasses like texture. As a dub mix, Scientist pulls magic out of a song that is essentially perfect. Free of the Wailing Souls mesmerizing vocals, the dub mix naturally emphasizes the aspects of the song that make it so hauntingly beautiful. The guitars and horn come to the forefront, and the slap of the drums midway through the song sting harder than a slap on a sunburnt back and Scientists bag of tricks fill in where the vocals once shone making this a whole different song that stands on it's own. And the crowning jewel of this piece? The eye popping album cover showing Scientist mounted behind his studio sound board with some maaaasive speakers hunting down some dubious characters.