- Chunky is the scrappy MC who vocals all your favourite sets in London (and your YouTube rips of RinseFM), and he makes an unexpected production debut in a rather prominent fashion: A double-pack on one of the city's hottest imprints. To be honest, it sounds like a debut. "Decca" is one of the more hesitant things that Loefah's label has released, coasting by dreamily on a fairly techno-compatible blinker. Polished up with Detroit chords, porous samples and a limp kick drum, it's all quite inoffensive. Not terrible by anyone's measure, but it sounds like someone fooling around in Fruity Loops for the first time.
As its name would suggest, "Experiment 727" is less straight-laced, and fares better; this one's got a topsy-turvy swing that's a little more tactile, but the sounds are still all greyed-out and blurry. "Rugged" is similar, taking all the traditional Swamp81 hallmarks—vintage drum machine sounds, jerky rhythms and tugging basslines—and again assembles them in a slightly off-kilter pattern, but this one doesn't hold a lot of impact either.
The odd one out on Chunky's self-titled EP is the jaunty "Thang," primarily because it features a perky female vocal sample. But when the vocal fades out we're left with a rather listless set of snares and a jagged bassline that sounds out of place. Chunky has surrounded himself with some of the best producers in the game, and he's obviously capable of crafting a tune, but it seems like it'll be a while before he reaches the heights of his labelmates.
TracklistA Decca
B Experiment 727
C Thang
D Rugged