Review Summary: F*ck them haters. This album destroys.
I had been WAITING for this album for MONTHS. Ever since I heard Rob and Gareth drop "Micropenis" at Tomorrowland, ever since I heard the preview for "Boss Mode", ever since we even got a TASTE of "Resistance".
And then it got delayed, and I got angry.
And then it got delayed again and I got downright PISSED.
And then someone at iTunes accidentally released the album three weeks early and we all flipped out.
Because Knife Party's Abandon Ship is probably what I'm going to call Album of the Year this year.
After raising heads and pulses with the intro "Reconnect", Abandon Ship dive-bombs into a beautiful mess of electronic beats and hard-hitting instrumentals. "Red Dawn" combines a driving kick with some Arabian strings for maximum dancability, while "404" mixes glitchy sounds with incredibly dirty bass to leave listeners reeling long after the song's ended. But that's not all Knife Party bring to the table - anyone who misses their dubstep will find solace in "Give It Up", and they take a trap turn for the awesome in the badass "Boss Mode".
They've got a sense of humor, too - "EDM Trend Machine" makes fun of the increasingly popular "future house" genre you've heard in songs like "Latch", and the incredible "Superstar" is mostly disco, even featuring a breakdown where an electronic voice complains, "Oh my god, what the f**k is this disco sh*t? What happened to the dubstep?" And then there is the both immature and banging "Microp*nis". It's on another level.
The duo shows off their lighter side on the very poppy "Begin Again" (featuring Rob Swire's incredible vocals) and the very progressive "D.I.M.H.", as well as the fantastic closer "Kaleidoscope".
Overall this album is a whirlwind of musical talent and electronic bravado with just enough comedy thrown in to make it what is, even now, most likely the best release of 2014 - electro or otherwise. Buy this album. There truly is no party like a knife party.
