The duo known as Mob Tactics, comprised of Mark Sims and Luke Bugden, are nothing if not fun. Their music is also incredibly diverse, allowing them to label hop from Viper to Eatbrain to Charge Recordings to Mofo and back again. No matter where their releases land, Mob Tactics only want to make strong, danceable beats with a lot of cheek. That’s certainly what they’ve done on their new EP due out on Eatbrain next Monday, June 25 with Dinosaur Rock.
Rene LaVice premiered the first track from the EP, “Buckfast,” on his BBC1 radio show last week. Without even hearing the track, most fans will know that’s a funny name, as “Buckfast” is a fortified, caffeinated wine from the UK, popular in Scotland and known for causing mayhem for those who drink it. The rest of the album is just as fun. The ravey “Zombie Funk” has a vocal sample from a B-zombie movie that says “this place gives me the jitters.” “Brainwash” is high-energy and techy with an extremely high-pitched synth that is both very Mob Tactics and very Eatbrain.
Looking at the EQ levels of Mob Tactics’s work, it’s pretty much always a solid block on the play bar. Everything is always turned up to eleven with very few breaks, even in the intro. The title track of Dinosaur Rock, however, may be the most “eleven” Mob Tactics have gotten. What’s interesting about that with the sheer number of beat switch-ups, syncopation and glitchy madness is that those levels still never drop. “Dinosaur Rock” is one unrelenting hunk of sound from beginning to end. Highly tech-driven, the track fills out the bar mainly with a glitchy and metallic-sounding synth that’s a nod to techstep, albeit turned up a few notches.
The aforementioned syncopation and glitchy madness is really what carries the track and causes the listener’s brain to do a double-take. The beat structure is unrelenting and stays the same throughout the track but all the switchbacks make it seem like the boys from Mob Tactics wrote three separate tracks and then mashed them together. Add a fun, sci-fi inspired intro and outro and a vocal sample about dinosaurs and Mob Tactics have managed to create of their most complex tracks to-date while still giving listeners a sonic winky face. The classic Mob Tactics cheek is never far off, no matter how heavy the track.
It’s hard to say that Mob Tactics have returned to neuro by coming back to Eatbrain for Dinosaur Rock. The duo always just kind of do their own thing, maintaining a high-energy, funky style and no small amount of fun, regardless of sub-genre or label. Whether they steered them that way or not, it’s clear that these tracks are perfectly suited to Eatbrain, where neuro with a bit of cheek is always welcome.
Dinosaur Rock drops Monday, June 25 on Eatbrain. Check Eatbrain’s website and Beatport for purchase options.