Amongst a certain section of hardcore dance fanatics, The Chemical Brothers are now in danger of becoming the techno equivalent of the Rolling Stones; an act who remain a tremendous live draw whilst putting out records that are regrettably subject to the law of diminishing returns. So the theory goes, but I don’t buy it for a second.
For my money, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have remained a formidable creative team throughout their career, pushing their music in new directions, undertaking intriguing extracurricular activities (they last year wrote a track for the Tate Modern inspired by a Jacob Epstein sculpture), and making brilliant videos with the likes of Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry. And, yes, along the way they’ve had the audacity to play to huge crowds, remix Kylie Minogue, support U2 and sell a shedload of albums. The bloody cheek of them.
We Are The Night is unlikely to make much more of an impression with the hipster contingent than did Come With Us or Push The Button, but it’s still a wonderful album. After the low-key build-up of ‘No Path To Follow’, the album really takes off with the psychedelic dance tracks ‘We Are The Night’ and ‘All Rights Reversed’ (which features Klaxons). The pace is maintained by ‘Saturate’ (propelled by live drumming) and the thumping first single ‘Do It Again’, which features Ali Love on vocals and sees the Brothers are their floor-filling best.
Elsewhere, the Brothers seek to spark a new dance craze with ‘The Salmon Dance’, before bringing the noise once again with ‘Burst Generator’, ‘Battle Scars’ and the beautifully titled ‘A Modern Midnight Conversation’. The closing ambient suite of ‘Harpoons’ and ‘The Pills Won’t Help You Now’, meanwhile, brings We Are The Night to an elegant conclusion.
I have no doubt that the essential underground 12-inch mix of ‘Getting Mashed With Paul Wolfowitz’ by DJ Fixed Rate Mortgage on Fuck You Records is, like, so much better, but I’ll stick with Tom and Ed, thanks very much.