Hailing from ROCHESTER, NY as one of the most influential Reggae Dub bands on the east coast, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad is finally back with another album to follow up their successful 2006 album release “Slow Down”.  “LIVE UP!” isn’t just another album but more of a collection of recorded memorabilia from their past journey’s.

I first found out about Giant Panda Guerilla Dud Squad (GPGDS) in 2007 and became mesmerized with how they crafted their own sound mixing roots, reggae, dub and Afro beat.  That wasn’t the only thing that got me hooked, it was these guys performing their craft live.  It’s not just another show that they give you, but rather a totally different experience because as a band who is always changing and evolving it’s impossible to repeat a performance.  So when I heard about this live album, I became intrigued and didn’t find it odd at all for a band like this to release a live album as their sophomoric album .  This just proves how confident they are in their sound that recording it in a studio would have cut down on the “in the heat of the moment” creativity, where feeding off the energy of the crowd makes all those twists and turns that you didn’t expect to find in the album that you get, if you ask me it’s kind of like life!

After I got my hands on the album it was spot on, like a ray of sunshine through my bedroom window, hitting me right in the eyes! I finally realized what these guys were getting across with releasing this live album and why they decided to call it “LIVE UP!”.   The album includes 11 tracks, all of them are unreleased except for “Seasons Change” which was on their debut album “Slow Down”.  “LIVE UP!” captures the dub squad’s best performances from 2008 - 2009.  This lively earthy group, who has gathered their own following from traveling back from north to south and east to west; lay it all out on this album with their dynamic psychedelic jams that you just find yourself getting lost into layered with positive, conscious and uplifting lyrics.  I recommend this album to not only fans of this reggae dub group but to anyone who enjoys roots, reggae dub jams that you can move and groove to.  This is the last album GPGDS will release as a six piece as they continue to evolve and move into 2010 as a quartet, we here at Branch Out Music are only expecting bigger and brighter things for these guys as they continue to amaze new and old audiences from all around the world.   For a lot of us Music is like life, always changing, but what was created in the past will never be forgotten and only seen as a stepping stone to the future.

By: Ryan McKeldin with BranchOutMusic.com