Thursday, July 24, 2008

Fear 2 Stop - Smokin

Hear The Track Here

Just above this track on Fear 2 Stop's Soundclick page is a track called Rolling. Rolling? Smokin? I wonder what they could mean. Anyhoos, this is not exactly a new Fear 2 Stop track, but a reworking of an original track released in 2002 but seeing as F2S have surprised me more than once or twice I'll give it a go. One of the very real benefits of the net way of life is that musicians like us can keep reviewing and renewing our 'back catalog' as indeed I have been doing lately. Strange that I'm also working on material from 2002.

Weeeee weeeeeee scary....

For those who don't know this Texan three peice, their taste veers from extraordinary dancey electronica to the most ear splitting dissonance known to man, The real debate, before you listen to one of their tracks is which fevered path this one is going to emerge from. Even though it messes with the ol' chaos engine a bit, overall, it's a surprisingly easy listen first time out and that isn't always true of this band's prodigious output. Just one thing though, by the end of the review process I am sooooo hating the hi hats in this track; it's incredibly repetitive.. Yes, I know a hi-hat is supposed to be repetitive but the word has two distinctly different meanings.

After the obligatory number of plays it's obvious that Smokin isn't going to win any major prizes, as good as it is. The problem is that it will only appeal to the already converted, nay diehard, fan, and even then on a 'yeah, nice instrumental basis' Fear 2 Stop have delivered some seriously distinctive music to Soundclick and that is the bar I have to hold them by. For a cool electronic ramble through kinda/sorta dancey phases Smokin is very good but considering the reputation of this band this feels lightweight.

Cool electronica with a weird edge. Recommended.

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