Crash Repeat.
‘Synthesiser with a predilection for arpeggiated leads seeks like-minded vocalist and overdriven guitar for good company, good fun and maybe more.’
The ungodly combination that this Lonely Hearts ad promises is the conceptual embodiment of Crash Repeat. Trebles meet bass with no room for a middle ground: this breed of electronic experimentation has no room for middle grounds. As well as the synthesised beats, the vocal delivery serves to act as a percussive device: the staggered annunciation of syllables makes the vocals both bold in terms of message as well as their role as an instrument. Superbass is a song of huge sonic proportions: a gloriously fast-paced percussion backbone meets with synthetic oscillations pitch-bent to within a metaphorical inch of their tolerances. Spinner is a song of a dirtier persuasion: nothing is clean – distortion is king here, with even glitched overtones. The vocals truly become an instrument here: they are far too quick to be comprehensible and it is wonderful – the texture is kept thick, rich and unique. Trigger is like an 8-bit flashback: Spartan synth lines bring back memories of a misspent youth with a moustachioed rotund Italian plumber; memories tainted by the distortion and drive present here, but a present enriched by it.
This is my welcome to Birmingham’s future Aphex Twin.
