REVIEW: Whale, All Disco Dance Must End In Broken Bones (Virgin)
- Tim Mohr
Do you remember the huge beat, brash guitars, and devil-may-care girly vocals of Whale's "Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe" that blew up in '94 and led to a support slot on Blur's North American tour? Well if that record was too Beasties for you in its reckless energy and combination of chaotic guitars and hip-hop energy, Whale could still get you with their new release.
Gone is Gordon Cyrus, the hip-hop afficianado who must have been responsible for Whale's early style, for gone also are the metallic guitars, shouted choruses, and joyously un-self-conscious enthusiasm. Instead, Cia Soro's vocals are sung over a back-drop more Sneaker Pimps than "Sabatage."
All Disco Dance opens with the single, "Crying At Airports," an effective piece of mellow trip-hop-ish work, with a slide-guitar sample, catchy organ line, and restrained vocals. Then "Deliver The Juice" runs a little towards the old Whale style, all Waitresses-esque vocals and prominent live guitar, though here, too, they contain themselves much more than they did on their debut. These two songs represent the outer boundaries of the record, with the rest falling somewhere within these parameters.
There are interesting sounds to be found within these boundaries: "Roadkill" swerves in a neo-80s direction, running atop a minimalist drum machine beat are vocals traded between a breathy Cia and a distorted male voice.
The central portion of the album is more muscular. "Smoke" has a threatening bass line and bursts of noise, "Four Big Speakers" returns to the shouted choruses and guitar riffs of old Whale songs, and "Losing CTRL" is faster than anything else on the record.
As "Puma Gym" and "2 Chord Song" fade, you realize that Whale want to sound like Kenickie and Sleeper, but that they also have a fascination with groups like Cibo Mato, Intastella, and Sneaker Pimps, who manage to place their indie origins into hip-hop contexts. Whale come across like Luscious Jackson on their Search For Manny ep: sometimes adopting beats, sometimes playing like a band. This leaves the record varied - if slightly tentative - and bodes well. All Disco Dance Must End In Broken Bones delivers alot of good songs and cuts effectively across stylistic lines. Particularly for fans of Sneaker Pimps, Morcheeba, and Sleeper songs like "Nice Guy Eddie," Whale's sophomore album should be on your shopping list.
