Audiobullys - Generation

Genre electronica Publisher Astralwerks External Links Official Website Astralwerks

They say that you should never judge a book by its cover. Sage advice indeed, if a little difficult to adhere to in a world full of wonderful examples of graphic design. But, if I might be bold, I would like to present you with an additional rule, one that may help you as your peruse a fine record emporium. This rule, as you might expect, pertains to the realm of music, and can be described as "Don't rush to judgement on an album simple based on its first singe." Admittedly, not quite as catchy as the book advice, but it can be a handy mantra at times.

For example, take Audiobully's Generation. If, perchance, you had the misfortune to subjected to "Shot You Down," the first single to be taken from the long-player, then you have my sincerest apologies. A horrid, unimaginative mash-up of Nancy Sinatra's glorious "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and a tepid dance beat, it is a disaster on all counts, and made the prospect of reviewing this album somewhat less than alluring.

However, while I was packing for a hasty escape across the Atlantic, I decided to put the disc in the player, as a duty to you, the reader, to let you know just how much you should stay away from this record. It wasn't a promising start, as the single is the first song on the album. As I was about to give up, press stop, and come up with a cockamamie story to the editor involving an air mattress, a tub of lard and a chicken to explain why I couldn't write this review, "Keep on Moving" came on the speakers. And what a difference. Moody, with a sombre and atmospheric dialogue in which an Audiobully looks back with regret on a life of crime, boozing, and womanising, it's a world away from the opener, and made me intrigued to hear more.

For most of the album, we're treated to a rather pleasant mix of UK grime, with some odd hints of piano house sprinkled in to give a nice touch of flavour. There are a few points where the record threatens to switch back to the horror of "Shot You Down" though, in particular "EQ-ing," which comes across as a half-speed Chemical Brothers track, and commits the cardinal sin of stopping and starting so much that you just can't dance to it (the reviewer tried his hardest, and the results were even less pretty than usual).

But it's the one-two punch roughly in the middle of the album that really excites. "Get Myself On Track" and "I'm In Love" find the band switching gears yet again, but this time, instead of grime, two-step, or microhouse with a twist of lemon and lime, they decide to sound like East 17, a popular UK pop group of yesteryear. Wonderful pop orchestration mixed with redemptive lyrics are completely unexpected, but very welcome.

And in a perfect world, the album would have ended there. Sadly, our world is rather imperfect, and Generation is a microcosm of this, being 17 tracks long. Now to be fair, the final five tracks aren't bad; in particular, the Madness soundalike of "This Road" is something special (it turns out that sounding like Madness is helped along quite considerably by grabbing Suggs to do a guest vocal), but by the penultimate song, you are starting to glance at your watch wondering just how long this album has been playing.

In the end, I was quite pleased with Generation. Although it has perhaps a little too much filler, my initial suspicions that it would be the worst thing I've heard all year were unfounded. Instead, it's a perfectly competent album, with a few interesting surprises along the way. I will save the mattress, chicken, and lard excuse for another time, I think...