This is the fifth studio album from Icelandic old-skoolers GUSGUS.
Right from the opening moments, when the surging stunted house groove of ‘Degeneration’ sets out its progressive stall with a warped-out sparsity that self-deconstructs in perfect 4/4 time, this ode to a forgotten halcyon age pulls no punches on its voyage of soulful self-discovery.
Female vocalist Earth’s searching vocal loops compress and distort accordingly as the head mashing hi-fi disco grooves and warps to an intensifying heat. ‘You’ll Never Change’ laments the failings of yo’man whilst ‘Hold You’ reclaims him together with the unforgettable sound of Chicago, throb by building, burning emittent throb on its patient pulsating way to the skies. Pea-pod pops and grinding FX surge forth on a finger-snapping beat as the ol’skool spirit prepares for a shake-up, wake-up call after years of dormant acquiescence.
‘Need In Me’ has a siren sound that sends out an airhorn-friendly signal whilst dissolving under the twisted psyche of rhythmic and human complexity. This hopelessly addictive cue to surrender to the heart’s desire shakes and rattles out a blast of retro-hypnotic history as the strobe-lit sounds form shape throwing flashbacks from an immediate yet distant childhood.
There is a heat-resistant dollop of fusion about tracks like‘Forever’ that set about your psyche on a fastrack to fever pitch; hiccup skips accompany hopelessly warped vocals down to the pit of this deep seated danceability as the mind separates itself to hover in a component-part reworking of itself.
“I wanna B A Freak” murmurs the vocal line as this dirty, floor-level sonic assault morphs and jump-starts into the hardfloor FX-driven dissolution of ‘If You Don’t Jump (You’re English)’.
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There’s a beyond Thunderdome/Mind Dweller (Eon) element to the hi-hat simulated scratch-out tactics of some aspects of this dancefloor mandatory. Other elements rise unchecked to the ceiling off a broken-beat celebration of all things tribal.
Highlighted by the irresistible stayed bounce of frequency defying penultimate track ‘Moss’, this album showcases an outfit that know their history and rework it to smouldering effect as the rhythm deftly skips all obstacles on its trance-inducing way into your happy and hypnotic-hearted submission. Carefully adding and subtracting some elements, whilst others become thickened by perception’s somewhat altered vantage positioning, the path to boiling point is thus ascended smoothly and without opposition.
“Higg-hh Onn-a Luurrrrve” it proclaims, in a place where vision is colour and audio trickery is made possible by this wonderfully repetitive evocation of House Time. You will dance. You have to. It’s an undoubtable, irresistible and very welcome fact of life.
Automatic fire and stuttering, skimming depth charges handclap their way forth as the party (and your head, and the world around you) fractals out into a sparse but soul-defining finale. Probing your inner consciousness to the end, this unswerving dance fodder simply can’t fail to awaken the mover and shaker within.
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