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Zombie Nation "Black Toys"
More analogous to the filthy, funky Ed Banger and Gigolo labels than meathead pop-trance jingles, this album certainly wont revolutionize electronic music, though it will compel clubgoers worldwide to shake their asses and rock to the beat. It's abundantly clear that DJ Splank, also known as John Starlight, can't run fast enough away from his past.
Back in 1999 when Zombie Nation was a duo, it delivered "Kernkraft 400," a catchy little electrowave track that ultimately spun out of control and, thanks in part to some obnoxious remixing, became one of the most well-known and overplayed dance tracks ever. While I sincerely hope that Splank continues to receive deserved financial compensation for what is now known as a sports stadium anthem catchy enough to threaten Gary Glitter's foothold, I find it relieving that Black Toys doesn't try to recreate that commercial success.
Today's Zombie Nation produces hedonistic techno thankfully devoid of Detroit's futurist philosophizing or Berlin's clinical abstraction. Packed with squelchy, dirty grooves salvaged from the smoldering husk of electroclash, Black Toys succeeds where many artist albums so excruciatingly fail in this predominantly single-based culture. "Booster," also released as a 12" single, kicks things off with a restrained mix of quirky rhythmic minimalism and melodious lo-fi synthwork. Similarly, and perhaps to greater effect, "All Or Nothing" updates the bliss of Sheffield techno visionaries Sweet Exorcist and LFO with the bleepy bassy stabs and a rolling 4/4 groove. "Slomo" not only drops the tempo, but brings a whimsical flair to the cripplingly serious dubstep genre its beat so closely resembles. It takes nearly two minutes before the secret disco funk plot begins to hatch on "Peace And Greed," a killer cut that both wondrously references and progressively revamps the lost French sound of the tragically defunct Roulé and Crydamoure imprints. Zombie Nation looks to the past like some of us reach for a telephone, though his dependence on retro styles actually supports his own individuality as opposed to hindering it.
A ten minute long bonus remix of the riff-heavy title track proves to be an unnecessary and deficient end to an otherwise generally likeable album. Still, this final indiscretion can be overlooked after so many memorable and feel-good tunes.
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