Under The Influence

I almost don't want to mention this track - purely for selfish reasons. It's been high on my covers list for months now. I mean, a trash cover of an ABBA track - what could possibly go wrong?

High energy doesn't even begin to describe how powerful it is, with metal guitars backed up extreme synth action. Layers of vocals in the chorus and wailing guitar solos. Lord it's good!

I always think to myself that next time I'm going to do a party this song would be the acid test for acceptance. Not that I'm elitist or anything but you could guarantee that a party full of people who enjoyed this song would make for a hell of a fun night. If I played this at a party in London right now it would probably clear half the room - though it's probably a good thing ultimately.

These guys infuse so many different styles into their music that I've been hard pushed to figure out just how to place them. That probably goes a long way to explaining why they've never really broken the mainstream market. To be fair they've had a couple of tracks that have become DJ essentials over the years. Jungle Brother (True Blue) is in almost every DnB DJ's record bag and many consider their classic I'll House You to be the foundation of the hip-house crossover genre.

Fans of Outkast, Arrested Development and the like will find a lot to enjoy here. The rhymes are intelligent and witty. Nods to other great hip-hop/pop works pervade many of the songs making it great for all the trainspotters. Thankfully The J. Beez don't suffer from the self-indulgent skit syndrome that other artists allow to destroy their work (there's only a single skit on the album and it's more of an introduction than anything).

Love & Hate is particularly interesting, sounding more like electro/disco club than hip-hop.