.::. Info .::..................................................
Artist : Underworld
Album : Second Toughest in the Infants
Year : 1996
Genre : Electronic
Label : Wax Trax
URL : www.dirty.org
.::. Review .::................................................
Underworld tracks often stretch to 10 minutes, but
usually they're so propulsive that the time just flies
by. On "Second Toughest in the Infants," however, the
trio's music unfolds so slowly that you'd swear they
had ulterior motives. The bluster that colors both
"Dubnobasswithmyheadman" and "Beaucoup Fish" is mostly
missing, replaced by a sensitive new-age attention to
melody and variation. Despite the occasional boring stretch
or lapse into laddish blather, we find ourselves inviting
them in for a nightcap against our better judgement.
The opening triptych, "Juanita/Kiteless/To Dream of
Love," offers 16 minutes of extended aural foreplay.
Its mutating breakbeats and steady, liquid bassline
threaten to crest over and over, but new textures
always arrive to keep the inevitable at bay. As Karl
Hyde's android voice mouths sweet nothings in our ears,
keyboards smooth the knots in our muscles and guitar
chords ricochet in the distance. By the time the track
ends in a flurry of eerie voices and agitated piano,
we're primed and ready to be pummelled into submission.
"Banstyle/Sappys Curry" offers more tantric techno,
however: jungle-inspired breakbeats that are simultaneously
hyperactive and sedate overlaid with warm synth
washes and more of Hyde's abstract, sexy babble.
Even the prog-rock finale, full of flamenco guitar
and malfunctioning pseudo-woodwinds, comes in slow,
steady waves that refuse to push our buttons directly.
With "Confusion the Waitress," we start to get our groove
on. A reliable kick drum starts our pelvis moving, but
soon Hyde's telling us sinister stories to keep from
coming. He's the ultimate sensitive lover, so determined
to make sure we're ready that he almost misses the window
of opportunity. Finally, though, with the syncopated
hammering of "Rowla," he helps us find our rhythm.
He forgets himself on "Pearls Girl," yelping and
groaning while big, dumb breakbeats detonate around
us. His voice now is annoying, too loud in our ears.
(Don't you hate it when they can't figure out that
the time for talk is over?) Luckily he calms down and
gives us what we need on "Air Towel" - supple rhythms,
soft words of encouragement and delicious dancefloor
friction. That long-awaited climax comes without
warning - a long, hypnotic plateau of rhythm rather
than the sharp peak we might otherwise have expected.
After that kind of exertion, most guys would probably roll
over and fall asleep. But wouldn't you know that our Karl
still wants to talk? There isn't much to say after an
evening this intense, but he manages to blather on through
both "Blueski" and "Stagger." The turgid electronica that
frames his words lulls us, so that in the end it's us who
drift off, having gotten what we came for. So he goes on
a bit too long - so he wants to tell us his troubles. If
he and his bandmates can craft crescendos this subtle,
we'd better make sure to get his number in the morning.
Cheap nightclub thrills are rarely this satisfying.
Brian J. Dillard
http://www.armchair-dj.com
.::. Spuithoer .::.............................................
Yay, yet another Underworld release by Spuithoer today.
I would like to stay and chat, but I don't.