Faster!Faster!Faster!
The title alone tells you much of what you need to know about this
album -- that it's a noisy, chaotic amalgam of DJ culture, live beats
and good old-fashioned guitars. In Propellerheads' British
homeland, this type of combination has livened up a scene where
techno "trainspotters" were becoming increasingly anal in their
overly serious pursuit of purity, and where "indie" rockers were
denying the existence of any decade since the 1960s. For those
who enjoy a little of everything -- and who enjoy the process of
enjoying it -- the new, beer-and-amphetamine-fueled "big beat"
sound of Propellerheads, Fatboy Slim, Bentley Rhythm Ace and
others has been a godsend. Rock 'n' roll is suddenly fun again.
Dance music is fun again. Even better, they appear to be one and
the same thing.
But although their approach to musicmaking might appear drunk
and disorderly, the figureheads behind Propellerheads know
precisely what they're doing. As well they should, given their
credentials. Alex Gifford is a 34-year-old journeyman who has
played piano for Van Morrison, played saxophone for The
Stranglers, played synths for The Grid and engineered for Peter
Gabriel. Twentysomething Will White, the son of a respected jazz
drummer, is a sticksman of the highest order, has played in an
acid-jazz/hip-hop band and worked as a DJ. The two, who reside
in the quiet, old university town of Bath, have thrown all their
experience into the Propellerheads project, but just as important,
they've thrown in all their enthusiasm, too. Gifford will tell you this
is the first time he has truly, thoroughly enjoyed the musicmaking
process.
Perhaps it's just coincidence, then, that they should be doing so
well with something they so love. But certainly Gifford and White
could not have chosen a better climate in which to indulge their
love of spy themes: the lounge scene has revived interest in
soundtracks and the supposedly finer accoutrements of life --
things like cocktails and sharp suits -- while big beat is naturally
cinematic, with its sudden stabs of melodramatic melody over big,
bold drums and epic breakdowns. These genres meet time and
again on DECKSANDRUMSANDROCKANDROLL -- from
Propellerheads' early single and high-octane album-opener "Take
California," which still sounds like a battle scene to save the
planet, through to their three U.K. singles from last year: the self-
descriptive "Spybreak," since used for a car chase in the David
Duchovny film "Playing God"; the jazzy and brash "History
Repeating," with the great Bond theme veteran Shirley Bassey on
vocals; and their masterful reworking of the "007" soundtrack, "On
Her Majesty's Secret Service," which producer David Arnold also
featured on his recent Shaken And Stirred tribute.
If these tracks appear overly dramatic and foreboding, don't worry:
the humor of big beat culture is clearly evident elsewhere. "Velvet
Pants" features a speech from a documentary on groupies,
"Number of Microphones" stars Will White as a human beatbox,
and "Bigger" matches its subject matter with suitably phat
keyboard lines. While some of the vocal samples are almost
juvenile in their wit, the music itself never suffers. Sure, it puts a
smile on the face, even makes you giggle, but why shouldn't a
predominantly instrumental form of music tickle your funny bone
as well as shake your ass?
Less expected, perhaps, are the two new tracks added since the
U.K. release earlier this year. "360 Degrees" is a reworking of an
instrumental "Oh Yeah" -- but with De La Soul on vocals -- while
the finale, "You Want It Back," is uptempo hip-hop starring the
Jungle Brothers. Both are functional and will serve them well with
American post-rave headz. But the Propellerheads' most likely
audience will still be the alt-rock, frat-boy crowd that has adopted
the Chemical Brothers and Prodigy en masse. For them, this is an
album made in block-rockin' heaven -- with the panache and wit of
classic James Bond.