Pop Album Review : Friends Help Sublime Carry On

** 1/2

LONG BEACH DUB ALL STARS

“Right Back”

DreamWorks

With their new group, Sublime survivors Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh have managed to make a fresh start, pay tribute to their late bandmate Brad Nowell, and draw the roots of their old group to a logical, if unexpected, conclusion. Where Sublime mixed punk-funk rage with reggae and ska, the Long Beach Dub All Stars spice dub reggae and ska with punk-funk rage.

Along with bassist Wilson and drummer Nowell, the group features many longtime neighborhood pals, and its amiable flow reflects the ensemble’s closeness while lending musical urgency to such tracks as the anti-freeloading “Kick Down” and the consciousness-raising “Like a Dog.”

Unfortunately, Wilson and Gaugh are still missing a vocalist. Opie Ortiz is game, but his bland singing/rapping is far outclassed by such high-profile guests as Bad Brains frontman HR, dancehall legend Tippa Irie and reggae veteran Barrington Levy, who closes the collection with an appropriately creepy reading of Sublime’s “Saw Red.”

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.