Propellerheads
Decksanddrumsandrockandroll
(Dreamworks)
For the supposed signing price that these two guys got, I'm sure that SKG was hoping that their debut release would take off a little more. Besides the relatively decent sales of the Prodigy and Chemical Brothers, electronic music as a whole has yet to really take off on this side of the Atlantic still. The first time I heard this album, it really didn't do much for me, but after giving it a couple more listens, I find myself grooving out quite a bit to it. While some of it is fairly standard electronic fare, a couple tracks stand out as especially funky. The funny thing is that these guys have probably made as much from one song on the album ("History Repeating" has been used in several commercials, as well as a couple movies), as they have from sales on the entire rest of the disc.
The one/two punch of the tracks "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" and "Bigger?" are probably the highlight of the album. The latter has a symphonic backdrop (ganked from the 007 theme) with a great beat broken into easily digestible segments. "Bigger" starts out with a goofy sample, but soon a live drum sound kicks in, as well as the most kickin' keyboard/bass wobble/something or the other I've ever heard. The album does have a few down spots, but for the most part keeps it hopping throughout with retro samples and nicely timed grooves. Not the most innovative recent release, but a very good time nonetheless.
Rating: 7
