I do not know anywhere near enough about ’90s industrial or the British electronica scene to have any real idea of the context this record was made in but I can tell you it sounds insanely ’90s. Imagine a more political, perhaps slightly less articulate Nine Inch Nails, mixed with The Prodigy and maybe you get some idea of what this record sounds like.
Supposedly it’s a bit of a departure from their earlier records and it might actually be a bit of a landmark fusion. I have read that they were more of an industrial metal band previously and, as someone on RYM points out, this is basically “drum n bass metal.” It’s probably pretty unique and it may be the first of its kind. (Maybe it is the only record of its kind.)
But time has not been kind to this music: everything about the production of this record just screams 1998, wether its the drum programming, the samples or the processed distorted guitars.
There’s also a lack of really memorable songs, which probably makes sense for a record that incorporates Big Beat to the degree this does, but it makes less of an impression on me than it would have with better songs. The sociopolitical lyrics are a little too naive for me too.
But I’m probably underrating this. Because even though it’s horribly dated, I doubt anyone else made music quite like this.
About that title: if memory serves, these guys were a little bit ahead of the dot-com “jokes” epidemic, so it’s probably not as dumb as it seems, in retrospect.
6/10
- “Microwaved” 3:28
- “2nd Hand” 3:31
- “Genius” 4:06
- “Civilised” 4:38
- “Subject to Status” 3:34
- “W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G.” (“What You See Is What You Get”) 3:45
- “Please Sir” 3:47
- “Disposable” 3:38
- “A Better Lie™” 3:13
- “Innit” 2:52
- “What’s in It for Me?” 2:56
- “I Don’t Like It” 3:53
- “ZX81” 7:34
- “Free Samples” 1:48
- J.S. Clayden – lead vocals, beats, riffs and programming
- Mark Clayden – bass, sampler
- Jim Davies (musician) – lead and rhythm guitar
- Johnny Carter – lead, rhythm guitar and programming
- ‘D’ Walters – live drums, percussion
Additional musicians
- Keith York – recorded drums & loops, percussion
- Pablo Yeadon – acoustic guitar on ‘Disposable’