CD Feature/ The Japanese Popstars: "We Just Are"
TobiasWhen the culture hatched the term “nu-rave,” this is more what I (and every old-school raver, if I may venture a pretty good guess) expected, not the Klaxons and their designs on welding tuneless Brooklyn indie to a bunch of random (annoying, stale) rave noises.
Though sometimes compared to Chemical Brothers by punting reviewers, this Dublin trio doesn’t have anywhere near that sense of humor; they’re more a stab at Orbital version 2.0 for the millennium, committing much bolder turns of the volume knob than their forefathers, all in a thin chowder of blocky wide-screen samples that are more ravey than the Chemicals. “Sample Whore” is a good touchstone for their style, with its heavily reverbed acid-house slut moans, relentlessly bashing bass drum and a dainty piano line that’s so loud it’s like a xylophone.
Hoover blasts and Euro-house color “Face Melter,” which behaves as advertised when it’s not trying Bodyrox-like electro-house on for size… mind you, all of this is louder than hell, able to shake the lug nuts off your car with the volume set to 2.
By Eric Saeger
Homepage: The Japanse Popstars
Homepage: Gung Ho Records
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