Background/Info:
Set up in 1987 and hailing
from Chicago (USA) Groovie Mann and Buzz McCoy became with their band one of
the flag holders of the legendary Wax Trax! label. More than 30 years later
they’re still in business and never stopped releasing new work –even if it’s
not at a regular basis. “In The House Of Strange Affairs” is their first album
in five years.
Content:
I’m familiar with the
early work of the band but I have to admit to have a bit lost their trace
during the past years. There’s one constant aspect in their work, MLWTTKK
always experimented with new ideas and challenges. You can’t consider them as belonging
to one specific music style as they’re simply bringing multiple influences
together. It remains something ‘industrial’, but still rock- and pop driven.
The songs are driven by
deep bass lines, now revealing great vintage synth lines and then groovy
sequences. Sometimes a bit funky and then definitely electronic; sometimes
featuring a guitar solo and next moving into symphonic and bombast
arrangements.
+ + + :
One thing is for sure,
this is a band that simply doesn’t care about fashion trends and other
established music genre. MLWTTKK is a genre on their own and that’s why it’s
hard to define their sound. The songs sometimes feel like very different parts,
but on the other side these parts can’t stand on their own. There’s a real
cohesion between them all creating a compact work carried by good-old
‘industrial’ music and supported by many other influences. That’s why even more
than 30 years after their set up, this band still sounds refreshing. I
especially like the great bass playing and some of the electronic bleeps and
arrangements. The song “Forbidden Saints” is the absolute highlight!
– – – :
The main thing with such
a band, which entered into history with their debut work “I See Good Spirits
And I See Bad Spirits”, is that the initial magic is gone for years now.
Conclusion:
I think it’s no longer
about magic today, but about a band that is still having fun by doing what they
like to do… and I’d some real fun listening to this work.
Best songs:
“Forbidden Saints”,
“Studio 21”, “The Chains Of Fame”.
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