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Review: 'CAPITAL LETTERS'
'Wolverhampton In Dub'   

-  Label: 'Sugar Shack Records'
-  Genre: 'Reggae' -  Release Date: '16th October 2015'-  Catalogue No: 'FOD109CD'

Our Rating:
"In foreign countries they keeping asking me: where is Wolverhampton?". So goes a line from this album's title track.

Speaking as a man of the English Midlands, I have little patience for this level of ignorance and am pleased that Capital Letters exist put the city on the map with such grace and humour.

As they helpfully point out in the same song, Wolverhampton's location in 'The Black Country' is not an indication of its ethnic mix but a reference to its history as a polluted industrial centre. The factories are, of course, long gone and, sadly, the relentless march of time also means that are also fewer Reggae bands emanating from this neck of the woods.

Capital Letters therefore stand as both a throwback and symbol of the perseverance of non-synthetic Reggae music.

The band originally formed in 1972, and while they built up a strong local following, they never quite hit it big like fellow Midland groups such as Steel Pulse and UB40. They were perhaps best known for the song Smoking My Ganja, one of the tunes they played on a John Peel session.

This album is the dub follow up to their first album in 30 years and signifies both the longevity and vibrancy of a musical form that did so much to define the early UK Punk years

In keeping with the Dub tradition, the vocals are largely confined to snatches of the original lyrics, for instance "Rude boy, rude girl" is practically all that remains of Try Try Try. The direct political and social statements of the original songs may be lost in the process but the spiritual content remains intact.

Wolverhampton In Dub comprises remixes and re-remixes with 17 songs making for a total playing time of a whopping one hour and 12 minutes.

Listened to in one sitting, it becomes a kind of Ambient music for Ganja smokers as well as being a prime source for those looking for some fine Jah Musak to get into natty frame of mind.
  author: Martin Raybould

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CAPITAL LETTERS - Wolverhampton In Dub