The best new singles this week

The singles that jumped out of the pile this week shouting ‘essential’ at us

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Idjut Boys – Dumme Willie (Droid)

It’s always with ample measures of cosmically-charmed pleasure that new music from the Idjut Boys is welcomed into the racks, and the quasi-mythical production duo’s first original vinyl outing in what seems like an eternity (7 years by my reckoning) is most certainly a cause for celebration. Actively releasing exceptional music since the early ’90s, the pairing of Dan Tyler and Conrad McDonell are revered by esoteric disco enthusiasts as architects of some of the most inspired cosmic moments to have been committed to wax over the past 30 years. From tongue-in-cheek wonkiness to breathtaking musical pearls, their catalogue on the likes of Smalltown Supersound, Claremont 56, Nuphonic, and Bear Funk – as well as their own Droid, Noid and U-Star imprints – is full of glorious, delay-laden highlights.

The heaviest of dub aesthetics combines with generous helpings of synth-fuelled disco headiness to form a common thread throughout their work, with a nuanced but often recognisable sound that’s seen them invited to remix artists including Roxy Music, Daniele Baldelli, and DC Larue. Though both parties have been busy crafting solo and collaborative material outside of the Idjut umbrella in recent years, the new release marks the end of a patient wait for fans of the trademark Idjut Boys sonic stamp.

Arriving in four subtly varied and floor-focused incarnations, ‘Dumme Willie’ echoes with the distinct musical magic the pair so deftly manage to manifest. Though both the bass riff and title allude to Rinder & Lewis’ epic 1979 cover of Johnny Otis’ ‘Willie And The Hand Jive’, each dub-soaked version brings subtly new sonic flavours to the disco table. The original mix sees bass undulate over a percussive disco groove as synth arpeggios rise in to elevate the dance floor mood, while the stripped ‘Drum version’ veers into saucer-eyed territory as tripped out delays soar across the kinetically-charged rhythm track. On the flip, the bass-driven motif continues across two versions of ‘Schlagstock’ – remixes of the title track in all but name.

The original mix features the juggernaut ‘Dummie Willie’ bass continues its relentless travels across heaving drums, while the altogether wiggier ‘Vacant Gaze’ version is perhaps the most abstract of the set, with twisted feedback and scattered drums primed for late-night misadventure. Grab it while you can.

PC

Earth Leakage Trip – Psychotronic EP (Blank Mind)

The Wild West of embryonic hardcore is littered with misfit records which don’t quite fit the mould. The Blapps Posse were prescient by accident as they messed about with rough and sloppy breakbeats, Production House was a wonky testing ground and acts like 2 Kilos ? and The Holy Ghost Inc were doing what the hell they wanted with sampling and soundsystem dynamics. Few outlier records can have as significant a place in rave history as Earth Leakage Trip’s Psychotronic EP – in May 1991 it was the very first release on totemic hardcore label Moving Shadow.

Given the way the scene rapidly took shape and a sound emerged via 2 Bad Mice et al, it’s perhaps understandable that a proudly odd record like this one hasn’t been front of the queue for reissue status. But as we crave more of the obscurities in pursuit of something authentic but fresh to our ears, Earth Leakage Trip’s sound more than delivers. It’s taken quite some journey behind the scenes for Blank Mind to make this re-release happen, but the time is ripe for a track like ‘No Idea’ to confound the dance again.

The oddball TV samples are there, the flappy subs, the seagull noises… Hardcore’s ingenuity rested on kids gaining access to samplers, and that often came with tongue in cheek humour as much as innovative music processes. But ELT never lost sight of a groove, and ‘No Idea’ kicks in at all the right times. It’s moody and macabre , but in a schlocky way rather than anything genuinely unsettling.

There’s plenty more fun to be had with the bleepy ‘Over 92’ and the chunky drum rattle of ‘Psychotronic’. All have enough heft to the damage in the dance even after all this time, but perhaps the greatest thing this reissue of the Psychotronic EP reminds us is that some of the best club records weren’t really built like club records at all.

OW

The Action – Friends EP (Detour)

David “Dizzy” Holmes’ much-famed mod imprint Detour Records are doing god’s work here, putting out a new 7” full of exclusives by UK band The Action. None of the tracks found on the record have ever seen the light of day. 

Part of the true original mod subculture, The Action were part of an intriguing microculture of bands fusing mod pop with soul. Originally known as The Boys, they remained largely an underground band’s band. But among their core fans, they retained an immovable following. Their first single after signing to Parlophone, ‘Land Of A Thousand Dances’, was met with only lukewarm public success. And to that effect, it was a doo-doo’ing, wooping, na-na-na’ing song that aimed for pop security and not much more. 

The ‘Friends’ EP, by contrast, catches the band in one of their not-so-people-pleasing moments. Faster, rawer and more aggressive, the lead track is a complete and utter thunderstorm in mono. Amidst riffing raw guitar and buried drums, it’s lyrically a dedication to friendships both new and old – “I’ve got the list of names of old friends now / I just wanna see what they are doing / I’m living free, and then we get together”… For how raucous and disagreeable the mods were known for being, this lost cut is surprisingly optimistic and sweet. It goes to show that if you’ve got the look (i.e. the vespa, sweaters and grey blazers), true friendships can cook!

The theme of uptempo joy continues. ‘Chance To Meet You’ arpeggiates and breaks down, spiralling away, much like the thought spirals that might occur when deliberating whether to meet up with a brand new mod love interest you met at your local dive spot. ‘Looking Through You’ is no less jumpy, hooting and hollering through indifference towards an old flame. ‘Some Are Smiling’, finally, rounds off on a note of swinging up-downiness and youthy 60s accents. An impressive resurfacing lifted straight from the vaults.

JIJ

Pyramid Of Knowledge – Heart Of Silicium (Craigie Knowes)

Craigie Knowes always seem to unearth producers doing genuinely fresh things within the electro scene. This time around, the Perth-based label have sought out Pyramid Of Knowledge, a project seemingly based between Seoul in South Korea and Paris in France, possibly operated by one Serbey Gubka. Nothing is too certain – at this stage they present a tangled breadcrumb trail of aliases and releases picking up in activity in the past couple of years. What is apparent is their gift for ear-snagging sounds that liven up the electro formula.

Sure, the beats are still very much committed to the broken beat on an 808 formation, but as with any groove that is but a vessel for the sonic identity of the track. Whether it’s the metallic snarl chirping through ‘Lovelace’ or the title track’s particularly starry-eyed, delay soaked leads, there’s a commitment to distinctive sound design which seems less concerned with fitting a pre-existing mould. Even ‘Neuralink’ which sounds like it should slip into a Drexciyan mode, winds up in a different head space thanks to the subtle dissonance of the arp lines and a chrome-plated finish to the reverb-soaked pads. In its own curious way it’s really quite feverish, making it a perfect reach for someone who wants to freak the floor out in the midst of a proper electro session.

OW

Gentle Sinners – Killing This Time (Rock Action)

Here’s a cinematic dance / experimental techno-pronk gem from Gentle Sinners, the newest project of Rock Action Records and The Twilight Sad’s frontman James Graham. In classic synth-band-into-side-project fashion, Graham has shed his synthgaze sidemen here, in favour of working with an artist known simply as – quote unquote – someone else. It’s a mysterious move, not commonly seen under Graham’s belt, but we’ll roll with it, and are sure his fans will too.

‘Killing This Time’ is a weird new indie single replete with rubbery double bass licks, dissonant strings and telephoned-in vocals. The refrain, “you don’t even know who you’re killing this time”, and anti-affirmations like “I was friends with leeches and snakes / they did things you would not believe… fuck me!”, raises a familiar sentiment. The track is an emotionally uncertain burst of indie noise, mired in lyrical sentiment related to poor friendships and communication. Midway through, a rubbery and dry 303 line creeps in, seeming to allude to similar ideas heard in Phuture’s ‘Your Only Friend’, the dawn of acid house and social hell in music alike.

The B-side, ‘DTM’, lowers the pace to a squelching, droning psychedelic post-EBM track. Its drums are organic and boxy, and Graham’s voice is pared back to a dry, loopy wash, which whirls around and around, in the round and in our ears. For those keen enough, this new single (harkening to a larger release yet to come) is set for a release on 7” vinyl, and only to the tune of 1000 copies worldwide, signed individually by the artists

JIJ

This week’s reviewers: Jude Iago James. Patrizio Cavaliere, Oli Warwick