Polaroids Of Androids

Holy Fuck
Latin

Back in the Summer Of Jonny (2008) Holy Fuck's LP was my mandatory workout soundtrack. It's not that the record captures a particularly sweaty vibe (sup, Muscles!), but it's consistently steady rhythmic punches made it the perfect audio accompaniment whilst I pumped iron, ran countless miles and occasionally pumped mad honeys.

These days, since the Death Of Indie-pendent Jonny, the soundtrack is more often than not Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits. But that whole 'thing' is best saved for another day.

The album's ascent from an interesting spin on electronic music to familiarity to unhealthy obsession was undoubtedly fueled by it's seamless integration into my ritualistic jock activities of that summer. But, regardless of how I fell in love with the record, it has since become my own personal benchmark for the genre I like to inaccurately label as 'live electro'.

Whilst this position has been challenged, most prominently by Brooklyn-based collective Battles, but also by noise merchants Fuck Buttons and local lads Seekae and PVT, I'm still yet to discover any musical act which combines the same levels of engagement and unique experimental exploration as Holy Fuck.

Which (finally) brings me to the point of discussion here, the group's latest offering - Latin.

Right from the teasing slow build-up of opener MD the mood is set. This is a complete album. There are no standout tracks (although SHT MTN is my own personal fave), no lead singles and no climatic wank-point (you know what I mean). This album starts at a fixed point and once the band have completed several laps around Club Planet Earth and dropped several metric tonnes of acid with every significant experimental artist of the past 1200 years, they arrive back at the same place - a mere 38 minutes later.

MD's theatrical introduction is interrupted mid-coitus by grinding helicopter blades, at which point we are transported into the head-swirling repetitive loop of Red Lights. As the song gently builds, calms mildly and then picks up it's pants and attacks once more, it's rudely shifted off it's sensible linear path by harsher, more abrasive organic splatters. This is a trait utilised throughout the record, with the well-mannered steady rhythm-based flow tempted into a more chaotic side by a series of short-lived experimental pieces fighting for dominance.

This consistently unpredictable war between these two conflicting layers of sound - the strict linear patterns and the bratty, attention-seeking interruptions - is the single characteristic that makes Latin an even more interesting and entertaining chunk of music than their debut. The increased level of detail around the almost military-like metronome thumps also assists in creating a richer, and more cohesive composition, which continually strays from it's set course, yet doesn't ever become lost in it's own experimental aspirations. This is best displayed on SHT MTN, which dives head first into some sort of electro-punk Moby Slam Dance contest, yet still finds the time (even though it runs a smidge under three minutes) to completely burn itself out, punch on with a broken elevator and joyfully shit it's pants while throwing fists in the air with 30,000 of it's best mates at a Berlin rave. Closing number P.I.G.S takes a similar approach - butchering any pre-existing hatred of the predictability of techno by packing in six solid minutes of overcrowded robotic lunacy - all the while still maintaining a certain level of stability via it's effect-drenched synth backbone.

While LP was built around a sparse environment, powered by the blank spaces just as much as the unpredictable swirling compositions, Latin is a much more confrontational and chaotic affair. It's an exhausting journey, not only because of it's engrossment, but also because of the sheer volume of music included. Songs sound as though they've been either compacted down from much larger pieces or connected to several other compositions to create an aimlessly wandering juggernaut of opposing directions. This creates not only a record that showcases the group's sheer abundance of ideas, but also leaves the listener craving much much more.

Words by Jonny