Dub Dumb

Dub Dumb

"Democrazy"

The task of analyzing every Gorillaz song is a difficult one to do. This is mainly because Gorillaz have a lot of songs which don't end up on compilations, albums or as b-sides. Instead these songs end up on other forms of media like movies, video games, mixtape compilations or even radio shows by unknown DJ's. A lot of these Gorillaz songs also end up on the band's interactive website, which always gives the visitor a look into the cartoon's HQ. In 2001 up until about 2009, their HQ was the zombie ridden Kong Studios.

Due to these songs being hard to track down, a lot of people ignore them and only pay attention to the albums. However these songs are important to know as Damon Albarn certainly loves his demos & sketches of songs. Damon Albarn often records a ton of tracks for every album he makes and ends up using about a fourth of the material he recorded for the album itself. For any songs he doesn't use he ends up either releasing them in some unusual manner or using them in later songs. One song that can be found in Gorillaz recording studio in Kong Studios was a demo of a song called "Gor Beaten". "Gor Beaten" would later end up in a different form on a movie Damon was soundtracking called "101 Reykjavik", the song now being called "Bar Beaten". Damon treats his unfinished song sketches almost as well as he does his finished songs, so it's important to look at Gorillaz demos alongside their album works.

One of the first sketches to be unearthed from the band's debut recording sessions, was a charming little track called "Dub Dumb".  "Dub Dumb" was most likely recorded during the early days of the band's existence due to it's cliche use of monkey screams at the end. Early sketches done by Jamie show that the band played up the whole "Gorilla" thing more at first, even at one point going as far as having a "gorilla in the band that plays bongos."

This track was probably used as a guideline for the sound Damon wanted to achieve with two of the album's main players, bassist Junior Dan and drummer Jason Cox. The song starts with Cass laying down a simple beat as Damon hums over it. Damon's vocals are sparse and spread out throughout the song, never being a constant force. Junior Dan then comes in with a dubby bass line being delivered alongside some of Damon's synthesizers and some handclaps. Occasionally the track is interrupted by an army of synthesizers bringing chaos and disorder to the track (these synth sections sound as if they could have been an inspiration on Damon and Jamie's soon to be made project "Monkey: Journey To The West"). On top of these sections are a vocal sample which is scratched up and manipulated by Kid Koala in a similar manner to what he does on the band's song "Sound Check (Gravity)".  Soon after these new sections begin, the song's original groove comes back this time with added synths and an arpeggiated acoustic guitar which is put through a phaser by Dan The Automator.

After a couple rounds of these two sections battling for control, the two soon work together for a rapid fire rap verse by Jamaican dancehall artist Sweetie Irie. It's hard to tell exactly what he's saying but he delivers with a fantastic flow. Soon another interruption happens, a duet between a soft and mournful Damon piano and Junior Dan's bass lines. After this, there is a few seconds of silence making the listener think the track is over. However soon the beat kicks in again and we get yet another brilliant verse from Sweetie Irie. Soon the song fades out as the party sounds of "Dub Dumb" go off into the night and never stop.

"Dub Dumb" was likely never majorly considered for inclusion on the band's debut, so it was tucked away. Damon would end up asking Sweetie Irie to move his brilliant verse to the trashy dance mix of "Clint Eastwood" done by DJ Ed Case where it was subsequently slowed down and made less brilliant. However the song soon saw the light of the day when it was included on the Playstation 2 video game "MTV Music Generator 2". "MTV Music Generator" was a primitive game that allowed you to edit and remix songs that were included in the game's library. Gorillaz became a major selling point for the game (included on a sticker attached to the case!) as they not only contributed their biggest hit ("Clint Eastwood") to the game but a brand new, unreleased song! "Dub Dumb" is the sound of a band finding their sound and was an important step in the recording of the band's first album.