Earlier this year, the Australian duo The Carter Bros turned out an absolutely triumphant record for Rush Hour: "Full Disco Jacket," a big, optimistic filter-disco anthem. They show a significantly different side for Monty Luke's new label Black Catalogue—or make that "sides," plural. The organ-soaked, carnival stomper "Run" has a similar cut-up soul vibe, if more manic intensity. But the glitch-infused "No Caller ID" recalls the pointillist funk of Luciano's earliest records, and "Wild Cats" is an epic synth jam brimming with spine-tingling chords. It's remarkable how spare the percussion is on the latter, with just a sturdy kick and laser flashes to lead the way, and faint hi-hats buried way down in the mix. But that restraint only adds to the sense of drama.
Oh, and speaking of drama, "I Didn't Need You," the lead track here, is all drama—real hair-pulling, breast-beating, cathartic shit, with a chorus you half expect to be wearing togas. The mood couldn't be further from the easy uplift of "Full Disco Jacket," with dark, dubby chords in the style of Basic Channel over a severe kick/clap rhythm. But the vocal really sets it off. It's simple enough, just a multitracked woman's voice singing, "I didn't need / I didn't want," and variations upon the theme. It's the intervals that get you, as she cycles between searing dissonance and minor-key comfort. It reminds me a little of Freak Seven's "Nano Kids," but this is far more hair-raising. For all its control, it sounds dangerously unhinged.
Tracklist: The Carter Bros - Wild Cats EP
A1 I Didn't Need You
A2 Wild Cats
B1 Run
B2 No Caller I.D.
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