General Public

Rub It Better (Epic)
by Chris Adams

…in which Ranking Roger and Dave Wakeling (ex-pats of the English Beat) re-emerge from whatever limbo they’ve been in for the past decade and decide to pay the rent. And, surprise of surprises, Rub It Better doesn’t sound half bad. It pretty much picks up where they left off (slick, Westernized reggae/steel drum stuff) with a little Stone Roses (2nd album) thrown in just to prove they haven’t been asleep. Sure, some of it sounds like bad Robert Palmer – blue-eyed funk, but there’re still enough hooks and inventive arrangement to earn Rub It Better a few stars. File under “quality pleasures.”