Chopper Franklin: The Hexed Dub – US – DL [2025]

1. The Hexed Dub: 4:24

We were in the middle of a thread last week when we got wind of the new single from one man musical gene splicer Chopper Franklin, so we’re directing our attention there today! I actually bought it immediately, based on the high satisfaction values with the last two Chopper Franklin albums of last year. But with my thrill-a-minute lifestyle [road paving, shopping, and a concert attended yet ultimately abandoned] last weekend, It fell to this morning in the hasty minutes before hitting the gym before I finally put the song on my personal device for listening.

“The Hexed Dub” is the lead off track from the upcoming “Darkness In Hymn And Dub Vol. 1” EP that will stand as a sequel to last year’s “Spaghetti Western Dub Vol. 1.” Right now Chopper’s band, The Heathen Apostles, are preparing for a long European sojourn this summer, so we’re told to look for that EP in the fall break before they head back to the UK for a pair of gigs to coincide with All Hallows Eve. It’s kind of Chopper to set this one free as a taster to tide us over until then!

The drums that kicked off this cut had the rim hits soaked in Dub while the bass pulled us under the surface of the song. A minor key piano rondo created a vortex of fatalistic energy. A portent of things to come. Then the Dark Siren herself, Mather Louth, began to weave her deadly spell with her backing vocals. Setting up Chopper, who plays the pawn in this game of woe.

He roared the song aloud like a man who knows that any aces he may have held were in games played in towns long abandoned and that the future at his door now holds only bleakness. Each line of lyric was laced with distortion and Dub. Slashing skanks of rhythm guitar offset the fiery but distant leads. Once Ms. Louth returned for lead vocals in the two final verses in the climax, Franklin’s low sustained guitar howled like a feral cat as minor key marimba teased us with its dark hints of Jazz.

It’s sophisticated in different ways to the Dub album of last year showing that Mr. Franklin has plenty of creative gas left in his tank for exploring the ways in which Dub can enhance his normal idiom of Gothic Americana in new and valuable ways. Meanwhile, if you’re reading this in Europe or the UK, why not make the effort to see The Heathen Apostles as they export some of America’s finest music to an audience that certainly values it.

THE HEATHEN APOSTLES | SUMMER EUROTOUR 2025

• June 05 | Teatro Munganga | Amsterdam, Netherlands
• June 06 | L’ Entrepot | Arlon, Luxembourg
• June 07 | Roots in the Jar Fest | Aalter, Belgium
• June 10 | Cactus Cafe | Hengelo, Netherlands
• June 11 | Kulturfabrik Krefeld e. V. | Krefeld, Germany
• June 12 | MS Stubnitz | Hamburg, Germany
• June 13 | Can’t Live in a Living Room | Haacht, Belgium
• June 14 | Cafe Pallieter | Herselt, Belgium
• June 16 | La Mecanique Ondulatoire | Paris, France
• June 18 | Kinett Kusel | Kusel, Germany
• June 19 | 7er-Club | Mannheim, Germany
• June 20 | Wild at Heart | Berlin, Germany
• July 11 | The Treehouse | Frome, UK
• July 12 | The Rustic Stomp 2025 | Poole, UK
• July15 | The Joiners Arms | Southampton, UK
• July 16 | Face Bar | Reading, UK
• July 18 | The Piper | Saint Leonards, UK
• July 23 | Prince Albert | Brighton, UK
• July 24 | The Anchor Inn | Wingham, UK
• July 26 | Altitude Festival 2025 | Blackborough, UK
• July 29 | Hot Box Live | Chelmsford, UK
• July 30 | 100 Club | London, UK
• Aug. 02 | Wickham Festival 2025 | Wickham, UK
• Aug. 05 | Hare & Hounds | Birmingham, UK
• Aug. 06 | Sidney & Matilda | Sheffield, UK
• Aug. 07 | Castle Hotel | Manchester, UK
• Aug. 09 | Rebellion Festival 2025 | Trellech United, UK
• Oct. 29 | The Voodoo Rooms | Edinburgh, UK
• Oct. 31 | Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival | Pickering, UK

The DL single is yours for a single, paltry US dollar and the EP it’s from won’t be here for a few months, so you might want to buy now and tide yourself over until then for a low price of entry. Not forgetting Bandcamp allow us to top up freely! DJ hit that button!

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