Freaks

Justin Harris and Luke Solomon have witnessed (and created) much dance-music history, both in DJ booths worldwide and in studios as producers. More so than most of house music’s observers and participants, the two Brits have legit reasons for airing their scathing views of the genre’s status woe. The Man Who Lived Underground lambastes dance music’s blandness and creative stagnation with a venom rarely heard in these circles. Solomon — who, with Derrick L. Carter, runs the renowned Classic label — has said this album is Freaks’ “fuck you to the industry.” On the pair’s previous disc, Meanwhile, Back At The Disco (2001), they quirked up house with stuttering, shuffling rhythms and oddly addictive vocal snippets. With Underground, Harris and Solomon vary their palette a bit, but they still emphasize house’s hip-swiveling bass lines and propulsive 4/4 motion. The main difference is Freaks’ addition of disorienting, peculiar noises, which will resonate with anyone into old video games or vintage analog synths.

But even though the duo’s ambitions are admirable, one wonders if they’re strictly preaching to the converted with Underground. Those who really need to hear it are out there shaking that ass to lame, mainstream house.