Sophomore album from Prodigy and Pitchshifter guitarist Jim Davies and producer Pete Crossman opens with the fuzzy guitars, slick beats and fizzy synths of Black & White, topped with Davies’ vocal. It’s an ok drum-n-bassy electro tune, it’s got a lot of energy but it’s so polished and well made that it lacks a certain rawness to really grab the listener. The same can be said for Generation Waste, Davies’ vocal breathy and desperate, and the track has a chanted chorus, but as a whole it’s pretty so-so.
Burnout – like a number of the tracks on this record – features Graeme Cornies of the Canadian band Triptaka on vocals, the song has a feeling like it’s a little too stuck in the late 90s scene, with its poppy refrain of ‘You shine like the stars!’ Aim Low is more successful, a whirling synth line and a stomping Rob Zombie-like energy, Davies barking ‘Mediocrity is what we all aim for.’ But then there are somewhat cheesier moments like New Ascendancy which feels like it comes from a club scene from a low-budget The Matrix rip-off.
Despite the rather bland lyrics about people who aren’t on their side being ‘nothing’, there’s a nice ominous synth humming away in the background of Wavelength reminiscent of Brad Fidel‘s score for The Terminator. Things really pick up at the start of Welcome To Our World, a pounding drum beat and keys going ‘doop doop doop’ give things an enjoyably 80s flavour that, once the beat comes in, is diluted a little, but the track is still littered with decent moments, though the ‘Everybody gather round’ lyric is a little too Black Lace for comfort.
Penultimate track Memento has some nice guitar twiddling asides from Davies and benefits from being an instrumental, giving the pairs instrumentation room to breathe without the occasional distraction of an awkward lyric or lightweight chorus. Closing track Undefeated has a Rob Dougan-like sense of drama with a juddering bassline and big fat drums, whilst guest vocalist Hounds yaps over the top, singing pretty much exactly what you’d expect for a track named thusly, rendering the record’s final moments a damp squib.
Overall this record, whilst well made, feels like a relic from another time – admittedly one not that distant in the memory – and as a result is mired in familiarity, whilst it can be warmly appreciated in a nostalgic way and some tracks manage to entertain for their duration by dint of this, all too often they feel like product of a halcyon age and lacking any contemporary spin to give them a much needed shot in the arm. Fine for fans of the genre, though they too may find themselves daydreaming about the bands this clearly nods to, including Davies own former projects.
[Rating:2]
