It might well have been the weekend when the two UK garage heroes, after refusing to play only handbag and hardbag, were turned down by a West End banker wedding. Out of frustration they might have retreated to a Walthamstow flat to give birth to the second edition of Blacknecks, another sacrifice to the techno gods.
The faint-hearted should seek cover when the noisy A-side opens with “Death Before Eastenders” a distorted fat bastard screaming and pumping like hell. “Life For Rent” is a squeaking jam pushed by acidic additives and childish gremlin vocal samples. But real volcanos erupt on the B-side where “Say Beams” sports elements of good old Panasonic hardness and sequenced tinny synths on a mighty bass drum. No, probably there is not a sample from Marusha’s “Rave Channel”, or is it?
Dwarfing all the previous is “Theme From Blacknecks” which features rolling synths like in Freak Electrique’s “P.H.A.S.E.R.”, making it a powerful yet bright people mover to offer some relief after the havoc caused before. The Blacknecks are becoming trade insiders.