- A note in the press materials for Cardopusher's latest acid exploration, Unsatisfied Customer Jams, describes its four tracks as "bangers," "jugular acid trax that don't mess around." And it's right on the money. The Classicworks co-founder gives his hard-edged drums and percolating 303 sequences next to no room to shift, flip or change. Each track features a single acid line at its core, with little more than melodic texture and obscured samples filling out the mix. It's not the best conceit for the more straightforward stuff: save for some punchy snares and sharp hi-hats, A-sides "End Local" and "Variant" are all too content to ride the flat trajectory of relentless 4/4s and anxious atmospherics. It takes some unexpected drum work and slippery grooves to make more of Cardopusher's spartan aesthetic.
Things get interesting on the B-side, with "Inequality"'s slip-and-slide 303 and the rhythmic sleight of hand in "Phase 1." Those tracks aren't bangers simply by playing hard and fast—Cardopusher adds some brains to their brawn, and his clever pattern shifts make the intensity that much more engaging. With quick and incisive mixing, DJs could wring dance floor fire from portions of "Variant"'s heavy drums, maybe even the frantic, hard-smacking claps in "End Local." But for banging acid whose bite lives up to its bark, stick to the flipside of Unsatisfied Customer Jams.
TracklistA1 End Local
A2 Variant
B1 Inequality
B2 Phase 1