Black Dog
Further Vexations (Soma Records)
Like all the best glitchy and twitchy techno, The Black Dog manage to create a sound that works as well at home on a sunny day as it does in a dark club at silly AM. Its no mean feat and harder than it seems but tracks like ‘0093’ are able to be all things to all men (and women). The chiming melodic build is the hook that draws the listener in whereas the nervous and stuttering beat is what makes people stay to dance. And the best thing is, there are a number of tracks on the album that work in the same vein.
‘You’re only SQL’ may sound like a damning insult aimed at the office geek but its another album highlight whereas ‘CCTV Nation’ brings in some old-school keyboard stabs, perhaps in some thinly veiled attack at the way that Britain is going to hell in a hand basket in a way that only Charlie Brooker could better. Or maybe not, but all that matters is that The Black Dog have created another classic for the Soma arsenal and have hopefully pushed their own name and reputation into a higher level.
Andy Reilly
