Rolling Stone (10/14/99, pp.124-5) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...the music radiates energy and hope, and the songs are filled with sly humor and a social conscience....RIGHT BACK sounds positively enlightened."
Alternative Press (12/99, p.104) - 4 out of 5 - "...celebrate the elements of any good-party; friends, reality-altering products and reminiscence....The occasional sampling and rhymes freshen up the backing tracks..."
Kerrang (Magazine) (p.68) - "'Right Back' is their finest hour: a debut of assured reggae-rock best enjoyed while basking in the warmth of a sunny day."
Long Beach Dub Allstars: RAS-1 (vocals, guitar); Opie Ortiz (vocals); Tim Wu (saxophone); Jack Maness (keyboards, background vocals); Eric Wilson (bass); Marshall Goodman (drums, percussion, turntables, programming); Bud Gaugh (drums).
Additional personnel: Barrington Levy, Half-Pint, Tippa Irie, HR, Fletcher (vocals).
Producers: Field Marshall, Miguel, Eddie Ashworth.
Three years after the accidental overdose of Sublime's Brad Nowell prematurely derailed the band's impending success, his rhythm section (Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh) reconvened with the Long Beach Dub Allstars. Joined by a cadre of friends, Wilson and Gaugh became a California version of Sly & Robbie for this posse of reggae lovers. Having already made their mark backing up the Wailing Souls on PSYCHEDELIC SOULS, the Long Beach Dub Allstars' RIGHT BACK is a smooth transition that finds this septet collaborating with a number of dancehall legends.
Among the musical guests are Bad Brains frontman HR ("New Sun"), master toaster Half Pint ("Pass It On"), and UK dancehall king Tippa Irie ("Sensi"). Non-reggae cameos include Pennywise guitarist Fletcher on "My Own Life" and Tone Loc soundalike Dangr, whose excellent lyrical flow dominates "Kick Down." Throughout RIGHT BACK, the LBDA maintain an easygoing rhythmic fluidity that bubbles through the punk-pop of "Rosarito" and the autobiographical "Trailer Ras." Tying together this genre-busting experience is a guest spot by lover's rock legend Barrington Levy that opens and closes the album. Levy's contributions to the reverb-heavy "Righteous Dub" are only surpassed by a poignant reworking of Sublime's "Saw Red."