Sublime
Second Hand Smoke (MCA) (star) (star) (star) (star)
Sublime’s schizophrenic rock-ska fusion encapsulated the California skateboard/surfer/punk culture with wicked musical licks and venomous wit, which probably accounts for the band’s selling 4 million records. The heroin overdose of lead singer Brad Nowell makes the band’s demise all the more sad, especially in light of the promise evident on “Second Hand Smoke,” a collection of 19 rarities — unreleased tracks dusted with a few re-mixes and remastered tunes. The songs intersperse amusing answering-machine messages from fed-up girlfriends and police scanner broadcasts with various rhythmic permutations, hip-hop touches, reggae and Madness-inspired brass blasts. While most of the tunes espouse youthful lawlessness, Sublime calls for a deeper examination on “Drunk Drivin’ “, a minutelong country-flavored ditty, and “Legal Dub,” a diatribe about the Rodney King beating and the resulting Los Angeles riots.