Man, I’ve been on a reviewing tear lately, especially for my pals at Metromix, who publish my love online and in the papers.
From the retro garage thrash of Black Lips to the throwback electropop of The Whip and down to the banging club raves of The Prodigy, I’ve lately been all over the sonic map. Here’s the legend:
Black Lips, 200 Million Thousand
Black Lips’ homage sticks, especially on mad jangles like “Let It Grow” and the drunken rant of “Take My Heart.” But they owe as much to the Godz as they do to earlier revivalists like Spacemen 3, whose spirit surfaces in the miasma of “Drugs.” Black Lips also have a taste for the macabre and hilarious: The former can be heard on “The Drop I Hold,” which contains a sample from the 1978 mass suicide at Jonestown, while the latter can be witnessed on “I Saw God,” which incorporates a riotous sample of a kid tripping on LSD. Same goes for the monster mash of “Trapped in a Basement,” a freakout worthy of Rankin/Bass. MORE @ METROMIX
The Whip, X Marks Destination
Spaced out on sound homage to bands like Devo and New Order, but new millennium enough to stand on their own derivative legs, the Whip crept out from storied Manchester, England on the backs of singles like “Trash” and “Frustration,” and remixes for bands such as Asobi Seksu. The quartet’s efforts culminated in this 2008 debut, which gets reissued this week by Razor & Tie with remixes from like-minded Whip souls the Bloody Beetroots, Crookers and more. MORE @ METROMIX
The Prodigy, Invaders Must Die
Rave culture as we knew it may be dead, but clubs still have plenty of room for the Prodigy’s cranked bangers like this effort’s “Take Me to the Hospital,” which is also the name of the group’s own label—it released “Invaders Must Die” at the top of the British charts earlier this month. Other tracks are equally drenched with speed: “Warrior’s Dance” is a warped anthem in double-time while the title track is a head-crusher wrapped in whiny synths. Same goes for the dancehall hurt of “Thunder,” the shriek of “Omen” and onward. The more things change, the more they stay the same. MORE @ METROMIX