CULTCHA Clash Outer National Record Review:

Creation Rebel - Hostile Environment

(2023 On-U Sound Records)

Selecta J-Cut

Creation Rebel - Hostile Environment (2023 On-U Sound Records)

Available Here: https://creationrebel.bandcamp.com/album/hostile-environment

Back with their first album in over forty years, On-U Sound's original house band, Creation Rebel is back with a vengeance.

With an album titled after former Prime Minister Theresa May's heavy-handed immigration policy, the band who originally formed to back the late Prince Far I on his European tour and went on, along with with Adrian Sherwood, to spark a punky reggae revolution in the U.K. with the developement of On-U Sound, is dread in every sense. Serious music for serious times.

Original members Crucial Tony (guitar), Charlie 'Eskimo' Fox (drums / vocals), and Mr. Magoo (percussion / vocals) come together (Keith 'Lizard' Logan, their original bassist has passed but is present in tribute, a print of his image adorns the insert) with bass player, Kenton 'Fish' Brown and keyboardist Cyrus Richards for the album. Of course, Sherwood is at the controls!

It was pressed on yellow vinyl and the A side is set off by Swiftly (The Right One) which, fittingly, features vintage vocals from Prince Far I as well as the conscious singing of Mr. Magoo. Production is crisp and the players are tight.

Stonebridge Warrior is a version, or instrumental, it's steppers type beat drives the track that treads the line between dub reggae and jazz. Quite sophisticated when juxtaposed with the groups early work.

Drummer, Eskimo Fox steps up to the mic for Under Pressure, singing, deejaying and generally nicing up the tune.

That's More Like It is a dub, the instrumentation is spacious, leaving plenty of room for Sherwood's mix-board wizardry and sound effects. The spaced-out psychedelia present in earlier work from the group, like Starship Africa, is captured on this track.

Jubilee Clock rounds out the first side on a strong note, another steppers type track with peaking bass, play it loud!

This Thinking Feeling sets off side B with pure fire, pairing posthumous Prince Far I lyrics with lyrical assassin, Daddy Freddy, who has collaborated on a few On-U releases, of late.

Another Mr. Magoo vocal track, Whatever It Takes is an uplifting one accentuated by Dean Fraser's saxaphone and trumpet by Okiel McIntyre.

The jazz infused Salutation Gardens Crown Hill Road is a dub with haunting keys and space age reverb and delay that the label has become known for.

Gaudi is the guest synth player for The People's Sound (Tribute To Daddy Vego), another heavy dub version with all of it's players in top form.

The final cut is Off The Spectrum, ending the LP in a fine style. From the tip-top to the last drop, this one is a winner.

Here's an interview from On-U Sound with the group discussing the new album.