Eat Static
Crash And Burn!
(CyberActive)
The duo (and sometimes more) of Eat Static have been around for just over a decade now and while they've never strayed too much from their particular style, they've been cranking out fairly solid light trance/techno tracks over the course of 7 studio albums and numerous singles. Even listening to their sound now, after all infusion of tons of different styles and splintering into subgenres of different sounds, it's interesting and refreshing to hear them creating what many would consider something that sounds sort of old school.
Of course, the above statement isn't meant to mislead you into thinking that they don't pull different styles into their music, because that's hardly the case. On Crash And Burn!, they inject different tracks with ethnic sounds, lounge, and several other styles. Like the title may or may not suggest, it's an album that's full of energy and with a definite sense of humor, laying somewhere in-between Tipsy and Juno Reactor,
In fact, it's the opening album-titled track that leads things off nicely and lets you know just what you're getting into. After a goofy vocal snippet and a sample of a car squealing some tires, the track launches into things with a nicely rolling beat and some horns. The latter part of the track turns into sort of a cheesy sax/flaming guitar free-for-all set to a beat, and it's surprising pretty damn fun (if your sense of enjoyment of a cheesy techno track hasn't been too damaged by the avart garde). "Love Truncheon" starts out with a bit of squiggley electronics before crashing into a spastic samba-esque track that keeps the tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Although it could be mistaken for a 'message' track, the two-part "Holy War" is still really just another excuse for the group to kick the funky beats. This time, though, they start things out rather slowly, before finally building up an explosion of beats and a quickening pace. It's like a lighter, more upbeat version of a Muslimgauze track, but it's still pretty enjoyable and the last part of the track should fuel dancefloors somewhere. The only real non-dancy track on the entire disc is the somewhat eerie "The Curious Dr. Hump," and evne the somewhat sinister sounds of the ambient track are thrown to the wind with the goofy title. The album closes out with the very solid "Elixer," one of the most engaging tracks on the disc. It manages to meld some watery synth washes with a nice breakbeat and some other well-placed machine sounds for the first half, before slamming down into a full-fledged 4 on the floor dance track by the end. Basically, Eat Static are genre jumping weirdos that create sort of classically structured techno tunes with an update for the new millenium. And really, that's just what you need sometimes.
Rating: 7
