Ninja Tune, one of the most influential dance labels in the UK have set up a rock subsidiary and released a pay-no-more-than-£2.99 compilation album. Intrigued?
My first thought was that it would be some kind of fusion, like when Martin Gore got his guitar out for Depeche’s Personal Jesus. In fact, what we actually get is a gloriously retro-feel to the collection, as if it were a history of imagined bands from the 70’s NYC punk scene and beyond.
Rock poses have been cherry picked and the range of sounds incorporates everything from surf music to the Stooges.
The Heavy kick off with ‘Oh No, Not You Again’. Bizarrely, this track is being used by the BBC right now as the soundtrack for their Britain’s Best Butcher trailer! So chances are you will already have heard the descending chord progression on the chorus (like Prodigy screaming ‘Come Play My Game’, or a speeded up ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’) with The Noisette’s Shingai Shoniwa providing sassy backing vocals. Pop Levi makes a couple of appearances on the album as well, coming over all skinny tie and cheap-suited on Police Sign and Blue Honey. They have a similar feel to the YeahYeahYeahs and it’s this New Wavey feel that sets a template for much of the album.
There are more psychedelic references that come to mind as well, such as Hawkwind and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, because as the album progresses it starts to become…… hirsute. A couple of exceptions to this are The Spokes and Cougar who have prompted me to make the oxymoronic observation that they sound like retro-progressive rock bands. Their contributions are softer, longer and more twiddly and would actually sit quite well on a drive time CD.
They are Swap Shop to Pop Levi’s Tiswas.
The Death Set and Ape School have a bit of funky Black Sabbath, a bit of Shuggy Otis to them with the spirit of Suzi Quatro floating ominously in the ether.
All in all ‘Strike’ isn’t an innovative album but it is a fresh sounding one. The songs are fun, muscular and shout-a-long. It is an aggressive album and a loveable one at the same time, and all these seemingly contradictory qualities sit together comfortably. Fitting really when you think that this rock album has been given life by a dance label.