R E V I E W S

   Selected Funks (NME)
   Selected Funks (Time Out)
 

   Selected Funks (NME)

   The Strike Boys know the
   score. Even from their home
   town of Nuremberg in Germany,
   they could sense our nations
   despair with the lumbering
   Frankenstein's monster that is
   big beat.

   It's just not funny any more, the
   pair concurred at some point
   last year, and promptly set
   about making a record that
   would save us from the
   inevitable onslaught of
   largered, join-the-dots
   breakbeatery. Or at least until
   the new Fatboy Slim album
   turns up.

   'Selected Funks' proves to be
   yet another essential foreign
   release in a genre already
   dominated by our European
   friends. Freshly signed to the
   increasingly one-dimensional
   Britbeat stable, Wall of Sound,
   the studio-based duo of Marti
   Kaiser an Tommy Yamaha
   construct a significant portion of
   their supple grooves from that
   most tedious of decades - the
   80's.

   Yup, it's rose tinted, retro-futurist
   time once more as we eagerly
   re-learn body popping to
   electro and, possibly, 'Funky
   Town' (Take It) was a great
   idea, and that one-finger Casio
   solos fused with obscenely
   filthy basslines were the way
   forward ('New School Of
   Strike'). Hats off, too, to the
   speed-skank of 'The Rhyme'
   which, in a feat of near
   Herculean proportions,
   manages to put MC tunes'
   oafish 'The Only Rhyme That
   Bites' to good use. So there is a
   life after big beat, even though it
   belonged to someone else
   previously. 'Selected' hearing
   has never seemed so
   necessary.
 
 

   Selected Funks (Time Out)

   Wall of Sound Records have
   performed sterling work in
   proving that they're not just a
   label for big, bolshy beats; over
   two years, they've showcased
   a fine line in lithe electronic funk
   too, and The Strike Boys are a
   fresh, new example of this
   persuasion.

   Nuremburg duo Martin Kaiser
   and Tommy Yamaha are The
   Strike Boys, typically enigmatic
   dance artists, with incredibly
   succinct sleevenotes. Their first
   single, 'The Rhyme', was
   brilliantly immediate, combing
   jangling guitar riffs and an
   inspired MC Tunes sample. Yet
   there's actually less of a pop
   crossover here on their debut
   album. It's crammed with supple
   grooves and deeply mellow
   voiceovers, but the focus on
   stocky bassline and robotic
   repetition might not be to
   everyone's tastes.

   That doesn't mean 'Selected
   Funks' is an impenetrable
   experience. At many points,
   including opening number
   'Strike Girls and Strike Boys',
   the music evokes Detroit
   techno, both highly danceable
   and strangely absorbing. The
   Srike Boys scour past decades
   for their vision of future funk, with
   '70s disco and '80s electro
   providing much inspiration. At
   the same time, styles from ska
   to dark hip hop provide
   seasoning for this succotash.

   'Selected Funks' might not be
   coursing towards mainstream
   glory, but The Strike Boys have
   created another proud hit for
   Wall of Sound. We've reached
   the point where dance music
   has exploded from the strain of
   containing countless
   sub-genres. And the ensuing,
   multi-flavoured chaos is
   scintillating.