The final
Creation Rebel album is very much the son of the preceding Psychotic Junkanoo, albeit one that has been stripped of much of the joyous abandon that highlighted that earlier set. Conventional in the same way that a lot of early- to mid-'80s reggae albums were, as the roots tradition fought a losing battle against the rising tide of dancehall, the album is highlighted by "Lizard" Logan's sweetly sung "Independent Man" (a
Bob Andy number previously released as a 10" single), but the titular lows are far more in evidence, beginning with Crucial Tony's decidedly un-crucial "A Reasoning." All of which is not to say that
Lows & Highs should be filed away without a second thought -- the dub mix of "Independent Man" has a spectral aura that ranks alongside the best of
Adrian Sherwood's period work, while "No Peace" and "Rubber Skirt" offer up sweetly skanking approximations of "name your own favorite" early-'70s reggae-pop (
John Holt's "A Love I Can Feel," to be precise). ~ Dave Thompson