Click Box - Shades

NOT THE COVER ART..

1. Berlin Shades
2. Lost Road
3. Some Toys
4. Voxer

On their introductory Minus EP, Click Box offers a refreshing return to a bygone era of classic instrumentals, full of experimentation and passion generated by that ongoing love affair between man and machine. Berlin Shades starts out in a jittery minimal fashion but soon dives much deeper as the tough electro bassline expands and contracts dragging the dancer to and fro. The cascading hook and in-your-face sci-fi synth motif add a sense of tongue-in-cheek drama to a dynamic arrangement that incorporates steep inclines, sharp drops and snaking pathways. As the short staccato bass riff gains momentum and the hook comes round for the second time you just know something’s lying in wait and the boys certainly don’t disappoint. Lost Road is anything but a blind alley, kicking off with some low-slung interplay between a two-note bassline and a whiplash snare that dishes out a serious spanking. Hi-hats fizz across the audio spectrum, cleverly pitching up and down before a drunken bass sequence ushers in the main section with its sliding, twisted synth distortions primed for surprise and immediate disorientation. Once all the elements are in play, the fun really starts with so many objects of interest competing for attention. The arrangement is pulled and pushed to great effect extracting maximum effect from this tough little unit. More electro flavour to the fore as the loose, broken beat intro and robot sounds of Some Toys make for some slick moves on the dancefloor. The retro synth riffs and dark spiralling pads conjure up images of some early 80s lab full of computer kids in white coats twiddling knobs on huge mainframe monoliths. The bouncing bass and analogue belches make this a must for all retro-tastic electro-boogie fans. The theme continues over into Voxer as rising filtered bass tones playout over another trademark Click Box drum pattern, this time doused in heavy reverb and delay. An array of analogue bleeps, screams and laser beams keep the motor ticking over...www.wordandsound.de