And the award for Most Misleading Album Title goes to….Mastersystem. This isn’t dance music as we understand it. This is ferocious, exciting indie music.
A bit of background: Justin Lockey is currently the guitarist with Editors and has been since their fourth album The Weight Of Your Love, joining a few years after Yourcodenameis:milo separated. Justin and his brother (and Minor Victories bandmate) James met Frightened Rabbit drummer Grant Hutchison in Berlin (keeping up at the back?), and the trio bounced around some ideas for a new project. After recording some industrial, melodic noise, Hutchison Junior contacted his brother and F’Rabbit singer Scott to add some vocals.
Scott was in the unusual position – for him – of having nothing to offer to the musical side of the collaboration, and being responsible only for lyrics gives him the chance to unleash, which he seems to welcome with open arms. He has such a distinctive and familiar voice that hearing him over Sub Pop grunge guitars takes some adjustment, but once it clicks you appreciate the weight of throat-wrenching that Hutchison provides here.
The theme of the album is one of saying goodbye to youth and acknowledging middle age, or in Hutchison’s words, ‘about feeling disappointed in one’s self to have reached the age that I am and still not having figured sh*t out’, which is a sentiment we can all relate to, to a lesser or greater extent.
“I’m just a teething child”, he sings on Teething, unprepared for adolescence let alone adulthood. It’s much more primal and impulsive than Frightened Rabbit, and more explosive than Editors. For his part, Justin Lockey’s work isn’t a million miles away from his main band’s more recent output, but this album emphasises the cavernous muscle he has brought to their sound
Indeed, the whole album is made up of blistering guitars and drums from a wealth of influences – virtually all of them being a) American and b) from the late 20th/early 21st century, in particular Pixies during their imperial phase. The songs copy the well-worn but effective trope of luring you in with a quiet opening or verse before exploding into life.
Opener Proper Home is the best example of this and sets the tone for the album well. Single Old Team, in spite of lyrics such as, “but the days when we were full of it have died”, is an assault on the ear drums, and there is also a mix by Mogwai available, although they would struggle to add some of their notorious volume.
The album rattles through the tracks, and whilst they’re mainly honouring Frightened Rabbit’s sophomore album The Midnight Organ Flight this year, exploring the possibilities that Mastersystem could open up an intriguing and welcome divergence for the Hutchison brothers.
Super-groups are often, quite rightly, approached with caution. Although there are notable exceptions, egos often get in the way, or perhaps it’s the reluctance to give any of their best work away at the expense of their day job. Sometimes, however, the chemistry is undeniable. Dance Music is a gnarly, unexpected and pleasant surprise.
File next to Humble Pie rather than Velvet Revolver.