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The Prodigy
The biggest-selling act in dance-music history rages harder than virtually any guitar band you can name these days. With the buzz issuing from the current crop of electro-rock, a new album from the Prodigy (its fifth) is suddenly more of a fashionable event than the last. Its sound might have started fires in the ’90s, but it’s taken a decade for the next generation—like Invaders collaborator James Rushent of Does It Offend You, Yeah?—to pick up the mantle.
For a band accused of making kiddie techno during the rave era, the Prodigy came a long way by continually upending the established order. Adhering to an uncompromising vision of hard-edged dance, the group from Essex, England, unintentionally made a mark on rock. It avoided the band format, yet one of its dancers, the impish Keith Flint, became the public face and presumed frontman. Although the Prodigy remains the vision of producer Liam Howlett, for the first time in years, Flint’s contribution is integral.
Fans of The Fat of the Land won’t lack for moshing moments. Somewhat wiser after recent controversies, the band avoids sampling any misogynist clips or mentions of date rape on Invaders. Instead, Howlett builds tracks off monstrous jagged arpeggiating bleats and visceral drums. The dynamic and anthemic “Colours” has huge hooks and punk-rock breakdowns. Dave Grohl lends explosive drum-kit work to the fearsome “Run with the Wolves.”
It’s all so deliciously gnarly that it needs a few soft spots. “Piranha” combines the garage riffs of a ’60s rave-up with spooky theremin, while the closer, “Stand Up,” sounds like the Go! Team tripping in a sunflower field leased by the Chemical Brothers. Both serve to remind us that behind the chain-saw synths and neon Mohawks of one of dance’s best live acts lie not just skull-shaking beats but soul-rattling songs.
Download The Prodigy's Invaders Must Die from iTunes | Buy it from BN.com
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