Headthrash

Emerging from the nascent Nu Skool Breaks scene at the end of the last century, the Plump DJs are the quintessential production duo. Over the course of fifteen acclaimed singles and three superlative albums, Andy Gardner and Lee Rous have become heavyweights of cutting edge club music. They have also firmly secured themselves in the premier league of DJs. The ground breaking success of â'¬ËPlump Night Outâ'¬'¢, â'¬ËEargasmâ'¬'¢ and â'¬ËSaturday Night Lotionâ'¬'¢ from the award winning label Finger Lickinâ'¬'¢ have alerted the music industry to the imminent release of new material. The first single to come from the album was â'¬ËSystem Addictâ'¬'¢, a beast of beats and churning bass with a distinctive central mantra: â'¬ÅAutomatic, System Addictâ'¬Â. This fast became a dance-floor smash and went on to win â'¬ËBest Single of The Yearâ'¬'¢ Breakspoll 2007. To date, this has been the only clue to the heavily guarded album. Here we have a diverse collection of influences from the low slung, bass driven, guitar synth workout that is â'¬ËHe Got Beefâ'¬'¢ to the summer time, disco-tastic â'¬ËTheme Xâ'¬'¢ through to the melancholy vocal allure of Passenger on â'¬ËTorque of the Devilâ'¬'¢. â'¬ËHeadthrashâ'¬'¢ is far from being just an instrumental album but instead Andy and Lee embrace the art of song writing and have collaborated with a host of talents resulting in a sophisticated and balanced audio treat. â'¬ËShifting Gearsâ'¬'¢ is the first song on the album to use a full vocal. The sweet melodic voice of UK artist Niara perfectly compliments the work of US rapper Raphael Lamottaâ'¬'¢s peak time style. The music contrasts urgent disco stabs and a grime inspired warbling bass line, which makes this short but punchy track a future single. â'¬ËSnake Eyesâ'¬'¢ follows with its menacing, hard and relentless aural assault, â'¬Åall these eyes, all these facesâ'¬Â, slips and slides its way into the listeners consciousness and has been a main stay in the Plump DJsâ'¬'¢ sets for the past year. What is for certain is that the Plump DJs have a very distinctive sound, brimming with energy, creativity, innovation and originality. Despite an ever-changing musical landscape, they have never jumped on the latest musical trend; instead they have stayed true to their own productions. â'¬ËHe Got Beefâ'¬'¢ is a great example of exactly this, at only 75bpm it is a filthy growler of a tune with a sonic firework display of high frequencies and a shouty punk vocal â'¬ÅIâ'¬'¢m gonna walk right over to him and put him on the floor!â'¬Â - rude enough to upset your grandmother and lairy enough to impress even the most unperturbed of teenagers. â'¬ËIntermissionâ'¬'¢, as the title suggests, is a short breath of blissed out escapism before we are thrown into the Balearic groove of â'¬ËTheme Xâ'¬'¢. A disco inspired loop filters through the speakers before slapping into the dance, a high pitched kazoo plays question and answer to an array of sonic squelches and a funk b.line maintains the swing with a classic vocal, reminiscent of 80â'¬'¢s hit records, with remixes to come. Harking back to the boysâ'¬'¢ funk roots â'¬ËS.N.A.F.Uâ'¬'¢ is old school Plump all the way, pacey drum rhythms weave their way around Andyâ'¬'¢s obsessive collection of early outboard synths. â'¬ËBeat Myself Upâ'¬'¢ also takes full advantage of Laboratoire Plump employing a rare â'¬Ëtalk boxâ'¬'¢ as heard in the 80â'¬'¢s with bands like Zapp (â'¬ËComputer Loveâ'¬'¢). Yes the music of the 1980â'¬'¢s has had a huge influence on Andy and Leeâ'¬'¢s productions. â'¬ËDisco Unusualâ'¬'¢, as the name suggests, keeps the tempo up with a series of knocking percussion and high strings, which sequentially step their way to a soaring peak time euphoric high. â'¬ËVictimâ'¬'¢ is a vocal collaboration with Sharlene Hector. An eerie backing track with flanging beats and a slower tempo makes this a departure from the tougher and more funk driven tracks. â'¬ËRocket Soulâ'¬'¢ has the signature Plump synth sound reminiscent of â'¬ËSystem Addictâ'¬'¢. It engulfs us into the depths of the dark side then spits us onto the dance floor with an ephemeral stairway of light drawing us towards the end of the album. â'¬ËTorque of the Devilâ'¬'¢ tinkers through the speakers with a conviction that seduces even the most saintly. Atmospheric and compelling, Passengerâ'¬'¢s lyrics create a melancholic love song with a shouting chorus â'¬ÅYou killed my heartâ'¬Â and as no surprise this is the second single to be taken from the album. Finally we soar into the dizzy heights of â'¬ËLost in Spaceâ'¬'¢ as we transcend the 60 minutes of musical bliss.