Ego War [PA] - Audio Bullys > Reviews > "We don't care what you think...."

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	A fantastic debut album from pioneers of hooligan house
Disadvantages:	One boring track, may be too gritty for some people

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

"Ego War" brings you a slice of hooligan house from the Audio Bullys. Think of house beats, added with a bit of rapping Mike Skinner (The Streets style) sprinkled with pounding basslines and the occasional funked up saxophone....and you've just about summed up the Audio Bullys.

The Audio Bullys are Tom Dinsdale and Simon Franks from West London. Tom is the production side of the duo, he is the man behind the beats. He started off DJ-ing at the age of 16 and by the time he was 17 he bagged himself the job of resident DJ at "Milk N 2 Sugars" club in London. Back in the day he was into his rave music but later on he progressed and started playing house when the rave bubble of the early 90s had burst. Simon on the other hand has quite a different background. Coming from a musical family he played piano and drums. He got into dance music when his drum teacher showed him a sampler. Simon takes on the role of vocalist in the Audio Bullys. His vocal stylings are rap and rhyme with the occasional singing of a melody. A bit like Mike Skinner's from The Streets style except with a strong London accent.

"Ego War" is the Audio Bullys debut album released back in 2003 to much critical acclaim from Muzik, MixMag and even NME seemed to get it. "Ego War" brings you the tale of the suburbs and real life stories from both Tom and Simon.

The album gets under way with "Snake". Starting off with an eerie synth and Simon's vocals "got this feeling in my head and it won't go away..no". A scratch of a record brings in the beat which is rather slow. But this song isn't a club banger, it's laid back with Simon rhyming off his lyrics in a casual manner about being lazy and not being able to get out of bed in the mornings. The song does drag on a bit and it's a bit of a relief when "100 million" comes on. "100 million" brings a more upbeat and funky feel to the proceedings by starting off with a short solo on the saxophone. The lyrics on this song are catchy but not for anyone easily offended. They describe him going from smoking joints, being jobless and having his mum shout at him for "living like a slob" to making music and signing deal. Simon's vocals flow well on this track and the production is top notch with more saxes and funky acid effects. As the track rounds off there is some great scratching which adds a little hiphop feel.

"Way Too Long" brings a real life suburban edge. The lyrics take centre stage and tell a story about a guy who owes his mate some money but has been seen out on the town when everyone thought he was skint. It is full of tension about falling out with friends. "Nobody's been coming round your way, Have you been hearing what they? They were your buddies yesterday, But You took too long to pay." The beats are more pumped up and frantic to match the atmosphere in this tune. Scratching and jagged guitar effects make it a bit gritty. Lasting just over two minutes it's a frantic little gem. "Turned Away" takes things back down tempo. The beats are slow and quite heavy but they have a ska feel to them. It's quite a chilled track with someone whistling before the chorus and Simon's rapping is a lot less harsh than on other tracks and his lyrics chart the difficulties he went through when he didn't have any money or a job and even the troubles he had when making music. "Tryin to sort my problems out from day to day to now, girl from day to day now."

"Real Life" and it's back to the house feel. This time a heavy acid house style beat dominates the track making it gritty but down right infectious. Distorted vocals which are short and repetitive mix perfectly with the beats. This tune has a real groove to it which makes it one of the best tracks on the album. The tune finishes with the ominous distorted vocals stating "It doesn't matter who you know, this is real life".

Finally they follow up one banging track with another. "We Don't Care" is the track that really launched the Audio Bullys into the scene and it's this track that got them the tag of creating "hooligan house." The tune itself is just fantastic, sheer brilliance. Starting simply with the huge vocals "There's things I haven't told you, I go out late at night, And if I was tell to you, You'd see my different side." At this point the big pounding house beat joins in and the vocals repeat themselves. Also added into the mix are really distorted horn arrangements. When Simon shouts "what the f***" the beat just gets better and better. In the middle of the track the vocals die away and in comes a funky house beat with tribal drums and an almost carnival feel to it. And then it finishes off with the stomping beats and huge vocals. Great production from start to finish.

"Face In A Cloud" is an odd song. It's slow kind of breakbeat style is strange to say the least. This time without Simon's vocals but with a sample from Joe Cockers "Marjorine". Hints of piano, mere slices of vocals and heavy acid effects all seem to mix wonderfully for this inventive and funky track. Some critics have even called it a "spaghetti western" style track. It's quite similar in style and production of the Audio Bullys latest track "Shot You Down" which uses the Nancy Sinatra sample and bagged them a chart hit. "Tyson Shuffle" is another more experimental track on the album. A mis-matched beat that sounds like someone punching and pounding and high pitched synths dominate the song. "Tyson Shuffle" is almost bordering on electro but it's really inventive and shows that the Audio Bullys aren't afraid to mash things up a bit.

"The Things" brings back the feel of earlier tracks on the album. Simon's vocals are as laid back as ever but this time he sings the chorus. "Do you want to, I want to, Change the things that I do". It's quite floaty and dreamlike in places that reminds me almost of a circus. Here he talks openly drinking and drug-taking and other issues that effect young people in suburbia. It's real life, it's gritty and it's not for the faint hearted. But it's about wanting change your ways and get of bad habits. There are so many different elements production wise. It's got slow beats, strings, horns and even saxophones and not to mention the odd piano jam. When he realises all the things he does like "walking the streets, smoking joints" all these thoughts occur to him at once and the beats almost pound and pound like he's being hit with all these ideas.

"Veteran" starts off with Simons vocals acapella but soon a drum and bass style beat comes in. The production draws on their musical past. Drum and bass style beats from the garage/jungle scene they were interested in their youth. There are also organs that are reminiscent of old rave tunes. And towards the end of the track effects add an acid house vibe. Simon's vocals jump from singing "For you, my love, I will try to be a better man" and then the very next second he switches into rapping quickly about going to clubs and meeting people; he's in full MC mode. "The Snow" starts off with horns and a real funky house beat. Packed full of groove it's another good club track. Even though it's got funky, fun beat the lyrics are as ever based on real life. "All of the people I know, seem to be caught up in the snow." Here the lyrics are based on the nightmare of cocaine and the fact that so many people in the UK are addicted to it.

"I Go To Your House" is a another good solid club track. A more deeper house/techno track than "The Snow". The beat is a pumping 4x4 house beat that reminds me of some tracks by Armand Van Helden. It's one of the few tracks that actually deals with romance on the album. But it's far lovey dovey, it's very honest and down to earth. The production on this track is solid, nothing too adventurous but it's got great style and groove. "Hit The Ceiling" is a more straight talking about love. Simon sings "I'm in love with you, But I just can't commit myself." His vocals are slightly distorted and faded. Again he mixes the singing of a chorus with the MC shout out style of his raps. "Keep it up, lets keep on dreaming, keep it up, lets hit the ceiling" The beats are once again solid but this time with a more funky edge. There's a great bassline on this track so it demands to be listened to loud!

"Ego War" the title track of the album ends the album off. And sees them return to a more experimental and mixed up bootleg sound. "Ego War" is really edgy due to it's breakbeat style and the choppy sound effects. The vocals are shouted this time in the full London accent. "I want a suburban ego war". The lyrics describe lots of aspects and scenes of urban life and he declares "I want to stay here for the rest of my days." It's a fun and quite light hearted way to end the album even if though it's edgy.

The album art for "Ego War" is really quite plain and simple. The cover is a picture of Simon and Tom standing on a tube train but the picture is quite distorted and white letters in graffiti style spell out "Audio Bullys". The sleeve design is simple plain white inside with a track listing and another photo very similar to that on the cover. The album art is nothing special and would go unnoticed very easily.

Well as for my verdict on the album.....it's pretty damn good. It's similar in style to The Streets except with a more house edge to it with it's massive beats and MC style raps. It's not a life affirming or life changing album but then a dance music album never is and that's not what it's about. "Ego War" is full of stomping, streetwise lyrics. It deals with Suburban life and all it's issues. All the songs are based on real life wither it be a friend dying (the surprising inspiration for "We Don't Care") or being jobless and penniless and living in the city which sometimes you hate and other times you love. They have created their own brand of dance music....hooligan house which countless people since this release have tried to copy and failed. This album is very well produced and draws on lots of influences such as 90s rave culture and bands like The Specials and The Clash. It's a really good album, not excellent but extremely good.

If you like The Streets then I would imagine that you would like this album as it has the same sort of vibe and tension to it. It's an excellent buy for house, electro and techno fans as good artist albums are a bit of a rarity in dance music. Or if you're just looking for something a little bit different to your usual style give this a try. And if you are sat there thinking "But I don't have a clue who the Audio Bullys are!" I guarantee you will have heard their latest single. "Shot You Down" was a big chart hit just a couple of months ago; it was the song that sampled Nancy Sinatra. It might not be everyones cup of tea as there is frequent swearing and a lot of references to drug taking.

"Ego War" is currently available at HMV priced £12.99

Look out for the new Audio Bully's album "Generation" due out on 10th September 2005.

For further information check out www.audiobullys.co.uk

 

Pictures for the review

Display pictures

Tom (left) and Simon (right)