Knife Party – Trigger Warning

Famous artists disappear up their own ass, but Rob Swire’s disappearance is unique. When artists’ ambitions get to their heads, we get things that are plain weird. Maybe it’s the whole Advanced Genius Theory. Whatever they do, though, they never sound like they’re trying to avoid being something.

These are artists who were ‘underground’ not because they wanted to avoid the mainstream, but they don’t care about appealing to their core fanbase. That’s why Skrillex has no problem producing a song for Justin Bieber. He also a little later drops a loud, wobble-heavy banger with JAUZ. He cares for neither fan base.

If Skrillex always looked for new things and tried to make the best of them, Rob Swire is the opposite. He’s been moving away from the loud Bass Music for some time, but he used to have things to replace it with. It’s not the lack of wobbles or even heaviness that’s the problem. “Begin Again” was actually good. Their experiment with Disco was great. The problem is that they sound like they care more about sounding the opposite of their past, rather than making good music.

It wasn’t like this on their LP. It had the old heaviness with “404” and “Give It Up”. It found new way to sound like a siezure with “Micropenis” and that deep house track had a sick bassline. Knife Party were always derivative, but they knew how to take every style they jacked and make it work. This time, they’re not jumping into any particular. It’s your typical, faceless Electro House that has some Big Room and some Melbourne Bounce, but is generally afraid of being fun.

I know that most parties are filled with people who hate music. They came to hear the drums banging, take drugs and hopefully fuck someone. I don’t see how catering to these people leads to good music. I’m not even sure it’s a good startergy to get people to come in your shows. No one is going to spread these faceless tracks. Nothing here is as catchy as “Internet Friends” or sounds like the perfection of its style like “LRAD”.

For two tracks, Knife Party just give us the ordinary horn stabs for the drops. I’m serious. “PLUR Police” and “Kraken” have a very similar sound and don’t do anything with it. These horn stabs always sounded bad. They’re a less rhythmic version of the typical Big Room popcorn. They create a half-assed melody that can also pass for rhythm if you’re high on drugs at a rave.

There’s no rhythm to them, any inventiveness, anything catchy. Even when wobbles had no direction they at least constantly changed to catch your attention. It’s astounding that it took Knife Party around a year to produce these tracks. Get a random compilation from Spinnin’ Records, and you’ll fine at least 5 tracks that sound like “PLUR Police”.

It’s sad to see how far down they went. Inventive moments are still here. “Kraken” has some cool sounds that would’ve been easier to hear if Tom Staar didn’t shit on it. “PLUR Police” has good build-ups, both of them. As for the other track, it’s fantastic. “Parliament Funk” is everything you’d want in a Knife Party song. It has the same aggression, it’s focused more on aggression and the guitars in the build up give it some structure. For a change, it sounds like Knife Party borrowed ideas from all kinds of genres to create a catchy banger.

The JAUZ remix is fantastic. This guy has been making waves and hopefully he’ll re-ignite the scene. He doesn’t add anything but it’s been a while since I heard wobbles these powerful. The wobbles sound unhinged and organic. It’s like they happen on their own. Why is it here, though? I thought Knife Party weren’t into this style anymore. Maybe JAUZ will wake them up.

I love this band and I don’t want to see them jump the shark this way. I didn’t mind the lack of Brostep in their LP because they had enough to make up for it. They could still experiment and they still knew how to distort every style to make it their own. Here, they jump on a tired bandwagon and don’t sound so ethusiastic themselves. If Rob Swire isn’t into EDM anymore it’s best to call it quits now. Let them be remembered for their classic EP’s. If only the Tom Morello collaboration was released here.

Also, I can’t believe these guys didn’t release Zoology. It’s their best track and one of Skrillex’s bests, too.

2.5 dubstep remixes out of 5