- Pounding kick drums, thrashing breaks and ghostly howls: it's a formula that's been whipping dance floors into chaos from the late-'80s til "Hackney Parrot." Scatter, the latest EP from Detboi, is yet another ring in this tree trunk. It's also one of the first prominent releases since "Hackney Parrot" to both capitalize on the resurgence of interest in jungle breaks and take it one step further.
Scatter is Dos McGouran's debut on Keysound. You might recognize the tracks from their Label Of The Month mix earlier this year, where the music made an explosive climax. The London outpost has a habit of taking influences from all over the hardcore continuum and binding them together as a sleek, powerful package that usually sits around 130 BPM, and this is also partially true of Scatter. The kick drums keeping time are just as violent as the breaks; put them together and it sounds as if Detboi wants to beat you to a pulp. The effect is particularly strong on highlight "Give Love," where he lines up steady punches like a pro boxer before letting the whole thing tumble down for a humungous drop. It's punishing, yet somehow graceful.
The rest of Scatter refracts the same formula in a few different ways. The title track is like a dark dub version of "Give Love," removing the vocal hooks and shooting off breaks like bursts from an assault rifle. "Shots" is even more staggered, packing drum wallops on top of each other before letting the pieces freefall again. But it's Scatter's most restrained tune (relatively speaking) that makes the biggest crater. "Pin Point" is more techno than jungle, rolling along like some behemoth steam engine until the rhythm drops out and more breaks fall from the sky. It's taut, controlled and all the better for it, a tweak of McGouran's template that goes a long way.
Scatter is another record borrowing from a fertile era for modern club music. Dig under the surface, though, and the EP adds to the style as much as it borrows from it.
TracklistA1 Scatter
A2 Give Love
B1 Shots
B2 Pin Point