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1-Speed Bike, "El Gallito"
A sense of humor never hurts when there's no real central theme to spoil with it. Beginning with the plainly announced statement "I am the ruler of the world, ordained by God. I am George W. Bush," this razor-sharp EP never lets go, pounding the hell out of my ears with mortar shell beats and rapid-fire melody wiggles. It isn't exactly clear if 1-Speed Bike is trying be funny or just have a good time, but the results of his dashing drum programming and science-experiment melodies are zany and comic tunes.
"Bleeched Bumbaclot Warning" starts off as a series of extra hyper snare rolls and bubbling flasks before turning into an odd commercial for hallucinogenics use by slapping a strangely slow guitar and keyboard melody over the now spasmodic rhythm section. I somehow get images of small animals (in cartoon form) bouncing about my head while travelling through hyperspace in an episode of some really cheesey sci-fi flick. The Hrsta remixes included (as well as the second half of the CD) are a little less out-of-control and feature more droned out samples drooling under obviously live samples of drum performance. This isn't the most innovative thing in the world, but there's something humorous and oddly exaggerated about the whole disc and that only lends to its appeal. It would've been nice to hear some more comic commentary on the disc after laughing my ass off at the material on the first track, but the chill-out section at the end is a nice relief and contrast against the all out attack of the first half of the EP. I was surprised to hear this coming from GY!BE's drummer and quite frankly I was happy to hear such a drastic difference. Sure, there's a political message here, but how seriously should that be taken when "I am handsome like Donald Rumsfeld" and "I am believer in truth and justice like motherfuckin' Tony Blair" are uttered just about a minute apart?
