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Pete Swanson, "Pro Style"
This EP pretty much picks up exactly where last year's fine Man With Potential left off, once again combining furiously thumping house beats with stuttering, skittering noise.  It is more of a tease than a substantial effort though, as it is basically just an amusing dalliance with the 12" single format, consisting of two versions of the title piece and a superior B-side.  Neither quite stands with the best songs on Potential and there is no evidence of a significant stylistic evolution, but Pro Style is an enjoyable distraction to tide me over while I await Swanson's next major work.
The opening version of "Pro Style" begins with roughly a minute of grinding mechanized noise, brooding synths, and host of distinctly Swanson-esque buzzes, bleeps, and stutters before the beat kicks in.  My hostility towards four-on-the-floor house beats has already been documented and that has not changed, so the unrelenting, unchanging thump is a bit of a sticking point for me.  Even so, I eventually warmed to the piece somewhat, as the combination of the minimal, deep bass groove and the absurdly maximalist wrongness surrounding it is damn endearing.  I especially enjoyed the impressive invasiveness of the crunching, metallic noises that appear in the middle–it feels like being at a rave in the midst of an active, functioning junkyard (albeit one that also seems to be embroiled in a ferocious laser battle).  The "VIP" version that follows is essentially more of the same, but longer, uglier, and crunchier.  Which is, of course, even better.
The lengthier "Do You Like Students?" is a bit more closely aligned to my taste though, as Swanson thankfully tones down his rib-cage rattling bass drum a bit.  Also, it scores something of a perverse, improbable hook in its eerie, two-note synth pattern.  It also boasts a somewhat more ambitious and musical synth bass line, which makes it feel more like an actual song once the beat kicks in (rather than an assault by percussion).  The sounds in the periphery, for the most part, remain consistent with those in "Pro Style," although the various bleeps, stutters, and clatters are buried a bit deeper in the mix.  It may not sound like much of a divergence, but cumulatively, it makes a big difference: "Do You Like Students?" sounds like a perfectly likable bit of retro-dance pop that has been remixed by an insane person and has gone badly off the rails.  That distinction makes it significantly more enjoyable than something that is basically a noise piece with a house beat added.
While the music itself is solid, the real appeal of Pro Style lies in its simultaneously kitschy and reverent format.  This is presumably as close to "fun" as a Pete Swanson release can get, so it is hard to be too critical–this is not meant as any sort of grand statement.  Unfortunately, I am congenitally dissatisfied, so I have to admit that I am a little disappointed that Swanson did not embrace the potential of the 12" dance single more fully.  For example, I bet a dub version of "Do You Like Students?" could be spectacular.  Also, it probably would have been extremely cool (or memorably, hilariously awful) to enlist an influential but forgotten techno or dub producer to rework "Pro Style" rather than presenting two somewhat similar versions.  So many missed opportunities.  Alas.  Perhaps Pete might just be getting started with this format though–it works well for him, as this is exactly the right amount of harsh noise-damaged techno I can enjoy in one dose.  I will keep my fingers crossed.  In any case, Pro Style is very likable (if minor) effort.
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