Astronomical Coffee Break – Exogenic

The Finnish duo are back with their fourth album, which to my money is a lot tighter and accessible than their previous output. I’m not saying that it’ll get a load of pilled-up astrix-heads going crazy, but if you’ve found previous Squaremeat releases a bit too manic, then it’s definitely worth a sniff. Platypus is stuttered and fluttered, glitchy and bitchy: sounds shift up and down and all around, and the melodies that come in for the finale are some seriously delirious muthafunkers. Liukutaklaus has the vibe of a funky clown. The groove is awesome and the midrange just makes me want to have its babies. It picks up a sort of disto-disco-goa later on. Front Side Rock n’Roll is trance in a blender, and one of the most accessible tunes on here. The midrange is very reminiscent of Cosmosis’ older output – that fat and squelchy 303 tweaked to kaleidoscopic perfection. Static Traffic is a definite winner: the groove is pure and simple, the acid midrange tickles the braincells nicely, and with a final run that’s just insane. Also, the backbone’s a sort of regimented-4/4-Bundestechno, except on a ritalin/ketamine combo. Which is nice. Evaporator is more in the old Squaremeat style with acid everywhere and deranged escalation, all good but it’s 2 2 Tango that really comes in and impresses. It’s incredibly psychedelic, proper job. The phasing’s out of this world, there’s changes at every turn and with a delirious, awesome main riff… all over this hilarious infested-house percussive groove. Shinkansen Rms makes for one of the tightest tracks on here, with great melodies and the general vibe more firmly in keeping with the texas faggot thing. Pure Coffein has a gentle groove with lots happening at the topend, and melodies conspiring to make you feel nauseous. Go Away is pure filtered house whose drink has been spiked, and finally Queen Of The Night is a sample-heavy, slowed steaming stagger home at the end of a heavy night’s drinking. At the end of the day, some people love this sound and some people just hate it. Certainly it’s nice to catch some proper psychedelic stuff in the backwash of everything else around at the moment, and Squaremeat’s more subdued take on the Finnish thing could be just up your street.