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One of the very best shows I saw on the last edition of the Belgian music festival Pukkelpop was Factory Floor: an indie / techno trio signed on the hip and trendy DFA label that's destined to fill the gap that LCD Soundsystem left, after their split in 2011. Their debut full-length contains some hard hitting floor fillers with a clear and unique identity, stuck on a seemingly endless repeat. Live, this resulted in a very enjoyable hypnotic set which managed to keep the adrenaline levels of the (unfortunately few) attendees at a high enough level. To be honest, the studio versions of the tunes have less of an impact, but Factory Floor's first album still has proven itself as an exciting headphone record.
One reason for this lesser impression is that the tempo stutters due to the three unnecessary minute-long intermezzo's. It's not like they are needed to enhance the overall album's sense or theme, because, frankly, there isn't any. The other, more fully developed songs are all no-frills dance tracks. Drawn-out and very repetitive melody wise, but as with LCD Soundsystem, it are the tight drumming skills of Gabriel Gurnsey that set the tunes above the pack.
A first highlight, in retrospect at least, is the opener 'Turn It Up'; a song that for its six full minutes of playing length gives off the impression of "Alright, let's get this show on the road already!", but then just abruptly skips into 'Here Again'. Teasing: it's an art form that Factory Floor seems to have mastered. Talking about 'Here Again', the vocal samples employed here could be best described as James Murphy meets Anne Clark, and the resulting slumbering dark edge works surprisingly well behind the four to the floor beats. The very best track on the album is without a doubt 'Two Different Ways'. The fact that it was already released as their sturdy first DFA single, two years ago, doesn't diminish the quality of the track or its inclusion on the debut one bit; melodic techno at its finest. Elsewhere, 'Work Out' could hardly be described as melodic, but the unpredictable stacking of several rhythmic layers on top of each other is the main reason why the band is such a terrific live act.
So the main point you should take from this review is that you should definitely go see Factory Floor perform when they pass by your neighborhood. Their debut album does what it has to do, which is confirming that the band is here to stay. Unfortunately, although they are very much well crafted, the tracks never really explore unorthodox territories. Still, the record is recommended for all enthusiasts of dance music with a darker, hypnotic edge.
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Album Rating: 3.5
- Two Different Ways: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4T2K-dkxA4
- Fall Back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YkjMeKZcA8
Average rating is a joke
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
yeee, it's there! Still quite informal, but I like the writing.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Good review man. I like this quite a bit, might try to catch them live if I get the chance.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Yeah, this gets so much better live, with seamless transitions between the tunes. Very groovy stuff.
Still quite informal,
Yes, but I think I managed to tone it down a bit. It's just some particular Dutch expressions that just can't be used in or translated to English.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
sure, I mainly like the fact that it's less formulaic than the majority of the reviews on here
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Haha, thanks for the kind words. :]
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
not really descriptive, though ;) But I wouldn't really know what more to say
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Now I know what this stuff is about!
thank you and pos'd ^^
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Eh, I've learned that being overly descriptive is pretty pointless anyways. Most people either read the score, skim a review and then decide if they'll listen for themselves or not; or they've already heard the album and want to know what other people think about it. In either case, they don't care for long descriptions.
The shorter a review, the more chance people will read it fully also.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
tl;dr
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
-_-
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
nah, you're right
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
This is a nice, concise review. Have only heard Turn It Up and Fall Back from this thing. How does the rest of the stuff compare to those?
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being short is the essence of reviewing
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i thought this was pretty uninteresting
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Been meaning to check this out, great review as usual.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Album rules. Average rating is a joke [2]
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Thanks for the support fellas!
Have only heard Turn It Up and Fall Back from this thing. How does the rest of the stuff compare to those?
I find each track more or less equal to the rest, quality wise. Basically, these are all bare-bones dance tunes, but the drumming is constantly unpredictable (sort of) and makes it worthwhile.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Bump
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
That's cheating.
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