- While the disco renaissance has brought with it a lot of shameless revivalism, a handful of pioneers are revising history, instead of just repeating it. Golden Disco Balls are hereby awarded to Metro Area, Luke Vibert (in his Kerrier District guise) and the current crop of DFA artists including Mock & Toof. With remixes of Hot Chip and The Juan Maclean, and a release on James Murphy’s new Death From Abroad imprint, the UK duo have joined the dots between the old and nu schools with flair.
Which is what makes ‘Beat Up’, the lead track of this double A-side, such a disappointment. A promising muted steel drum soon gives way to tired cosmic noodling, as the requisite organ, guitar and low-slung bass wander off together into oblivion. Halfway through, a dubby breakdown of echo-soaked vocals and wet synth pops hints at Maclean-esque brilliance, but it soon meanders back into Doodle Country. On the flip, the remix of ‘Black Jub’ by Darshan Jesrani of Metro Area is even more retro and, astoundingly, less focused, which suggests that Morgan Geist is the brains of that particular outfit.
On ‘Lucky’, Mock & Toof stop flogging the dead horse of cosmic, and hitch their wagon to the next big thing: baggy disco. On this update of the Stone Roses’ ‘Fools Gold’, the laconic vocals of young Glaswegian Gavin Gordon swagger across a shuffling Balearic groove enlivened by spacey sound effects and bongo rolls. Not exactly a revelation, but it suggests that Mock & Toof have a place at the forefront of a bright new sound, along with the likes of Studio, that their best is yet to come.
TracklistA1 Beat Up
A2 Lucky (feat. Gavin Gordon)
AA Black Jub (Darshan Jesrani Hot Seat Mix)