Techno Junkies 1992-94 - Ultra-Sonic

...into a hardcore and gabba techno phase when I was in sixth form college between the ages of 16-18, and then on into my University years. Hailing from Glasgow Scotland, Ultra-Sonic were one of the best bands from this era, along with dutch band Dyewitness. Most of the hardcore techno music at the time orginated from Scotland and Rotterdam, with two of the most prominent record labels located in Glasgow and Rotterdam.

I still remember ...
...This truly wild hardcore techno track full of beats, rhythms and electronica sounds, is complete with the infamous question, the crowd never fails to join in with ... "We have a question ...... Do you love your hardcore?", before all help breaks loose. Classic.

3) Ultra-Sonic v's Bass Baby (pt 1) - A trip to the darker side, with tekno meeting drum & bass head on, for a quality fusion of the two styles. Bass Baby co-produced ... more

ULTRA-SONIC "Tekno Junkies '92~'94" CD Format £12.99 (also available on Casette & 12" Vinyl)

Right, this is my 2nd effort at writing this review ... I was literally typing the last 10 words after about an hour yesterday evening and the system crashed and lost it ... Not even saved to drafts .... arrrghhhhhhhh!!!!!

Second time lucky, but likelihood is it won't be a patch on the first !

Here goes. ...

I transisted from dance and house music into a hardcore and gabba techno phase when I was in sixth form college between the ages of 16-18, and then on into my University years. Hailing from Glasgow Scotland, Ultra-Sonic were one of the best bands from this era, along with dutch band Dyewitness. Most of the hardcore techno music at the time orginated from Scotland and Rotterdam, with two of the most prominent record labels located in Glasgow and Rotterdam.

I still remember the excitement when this album dropped through my letter box back in 1994. It was necessary for me to order it in CD format version direct from the record label, Clubscene, as 12" vinyl was the order of the day for underground music that was not mainstream, largely because this was the format used by DJ's in the clubs and there was no sense in record labels producing CD's for music that didn't appeal to the masses - this did change around 1996/97 when the scene grew and generated more interest, especially with the consolidation of record labels, with many of the smaller ones unable to compete as bands signed to the larger, more globally renowned labels. Prior to this, me and my mate, who also ordered a copy - othewrwise unavailable in our local record stores - had to share a cassette version of the album, whereby the sound quality had deteriorated due to the constant playing of the album, especially with the rewind button being used excessively for the favourite songs.... rather than the skip button so easily utilised for CD's .... Oh, the wonders and joys of a CD in 1994 for young 16 year old boys ... heaven ! (I know CD's had been around for a while, but we were still making the transistion from vinyl and cassettes).

Tekno Junkies was Ultra-Sonic's first album release, after a succession of single releases prior, all of which made the album with the exception - rather strangely - of "Acid Circus". US for short, were primarily Rodger Lee and frontman MC Mallorca Lee. Rodger and Lee were later joined for their 2nd album, "Global Tekno Junkies" by guitarist Pete Coughlan, who later still assumed the role of lead MC in 1998 when Mallorca left the band due to muscial and personal differences with Coughlan.

Why then could you purchase Tekno Junkies in CD format, if it was not cost effective for labels to press this format, due to lack of mass appeal?

Actually, US were a bit of a phenomenon in Scotland, partially due to the massive coverage they scored with the then large-scale rave production companies, such as "Fantazia", "Rezerection", "Raindance", "Dreamscape", "Helter Skelter" and the likes, but also due to the massive scene in Scotland. They were also very popular in the specific areas of England and Ireland that were massively into this branch of dance / rave music, such as the legendary Club Kinetic, where they later recorded a live album (I was there on the evening and it was truly electric), "The Warehouse" in Donacster, "Bowlers" in Manchester, "The Sanctuary" in Milton Keynes, and the two hardcore clubs closest to where I grew up ... "The Hard Dock Cafe" on the infamous Dock Road in Liverpool, and "The Dome", across the Mersey in Birkenhead. In fact, it was at "The Dome" in Birkenhead where I first witnessed Ultra-Sonic play live with my younger brother ... usually a very shady / dodgy club, full of what we termed as "growlers" (Hence, I drove over and didn't drink, just to keep my witts about me!), they quite literally tamed the audience with an awesome set, that completely lifted the typical atmosphere of the place.

I mentioned, under my review of The Prodigy's "Music for the Jilted Generation", that they were the best live act I have seen due to the raw energy of their live performance, but Ultra-Sonic come a very close run second with the raw energy that is generated during their performances ... largely aided by the go mental style that MC Mallorca Lee transcends to the audience, as he often dances - Bez like (Happy Mondays) - around the stage - awesome !! In fact, Ultra-Sonic supported The Prodigy at a gig in Toyko, Japan in 1995 ... I wish I had seen that !

In 1992, Ultra-Sonic performed at Fantazia's "Big Bang" event to 12,000 party-goers at the SECC in Glasgow, along with a host of other acts and DJ's, such as Rat Pack, Carl Cox, Mikey B et al, and where - along with Carl Cox (typically) - one of the highlights of the event. Voted as Scotlands best dance act the same year, the band have won a heap of awards and accolades, having worked hard to gain such recognition, with over 80 tours of Germany under their belt, along with numerous trips to Australia, Asia, North, Central and Latin Amercia.

Ultra-Sonic's style is very suited to touring and performing, with a large proportion of their tracks featuring MC Mallorca. This, along with the sound of cheering and whooping in the background, provides the listener with the unique impression that many of their studio albums actually include live performances. In fact, the first 7 tracks of Tekno Junkies appear to be taken from one gig, as the tracks run smoothly and simultaneously from one to the next with the crowd audible throughout, when actually, only one of the tracks has been included as a live recording.

The album....

1) Awesome - Quite literally, the title of the track says it all. The track begins with a havy bass, before a quick repetitive piano riff kicks in and the tune builds throughout .... "Let me hear ya...!" bellows Mallorca down the mic.

2) Annihilating Rhythm (pt1) - The original hardcore anthem ! This truly wild hardcore techno track full of beats, rhythms and electronica sounds, is complete with the infamous question, the crowd never fails to join in with ... "We have a question ...... Do you love your hardcore?", before all help breaks loose. Classic.

3) Ultra-Sonic v's Bass Baby (pt 1) - A trip to the darker side, with tekno meeting drum & bass head on, for a quality fusion of the two styles. Bass Baby co-produced this track with US.

4) React 1994 - Always get a REACTion from the crowd this bouncy tecnho track.

5) Check Your Head - One of the harder, more crazy techno tracks on the album ... "Everybody's heads fine!" declares Mallorca at the finish.... pheww!

6) Sugar Free Tekno (Live) - Nothing added, just pure unadulterated techno. The hardest track on the album bouncing along at god knows how many beats per minute.

7) Annihilating Rhythm (pt 2) - Very different to part one, except for the craziness. This is a fairly anthemic piano track that builds to a near peak, before instantly descending to a trough, before buidling again, troughing, building slightly, troughing, building, building, before reaching a climax of sound that unleashes an array of electonica sounds and break beats, including the female vocal from track 14 "Love Me Right", with Mallorca adding his unique brand of mayhem throughout.

8) Blue Simley's Plan - First of the pure studio tracks, not featuring any MC'ing of crowd participation ... "We have a plan ... we think it's working!"

9) Jupiter - Quite a mellow techno track, with focus on electonic sounds and rhythms.

10) Obsession - The bands first 12" release and incredibly anthemic, with haunting female vocal throughout.

11) Beyond the Clouds &...
12) The Pulse - Both electronic experimental techno trance tracks. Very difficult to be too descriptive with these two.

13) Arpeggio (Stomp Mix) - Track begins with very quick and hard bass, building throughout the track, with a serious of percussion and beat box sounds, along with electronic blends ... good hard track for stomping around to on the dancefloor.

14) Love me Right - Back to the live "sounding" tracks with MC Mallorca doing his thang! Another anthemic piano track with female "Love Me Right" voal .... "Come on!" shouts Mallorca as he eggs the crowd along.

15) Eternity - Fairly short track, with piano riff and bass building throughout ... "This is not over yet!"

16) What is Tekno? - Sequence of whale noises and electronica sounds for around 2 minutes. I think this should be played underwater at the mouth of the Thames estuary to see whether that Bottle Neck Whale can be enticed out from between Albert & Chelsea bridges....

Anyway, a superb first album, which was nicely followed up by "Global Tekno Junkies", "Live at Club Kinetic", "Hour of Chaos", and very recently "Annihilating Rhythms".

If you like techno, hardcore, or breakbeat, you should like these boys!
 

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