Higher than the Eiffel

More than four years since the release of Generation, Audio Bullys have another go at delivering the full-rounded album they’ve long threatened. Each of their preceding records has spawned one bone fide hit single – 2005’s Nancy Sinatra sampling ‘Shot You Down’ even did brisk global business. However, they’ve never mustered the stamina necessary for an entire album worth of consistently good material. What’s more, electronic music has moved on since they were last on the scene and, unfortunately, Audio Bullys appear stuck in the past.
The album incorporates elements of house, electro and even ska. Suggs guests on ‘Twist Me Up’, ‘Drums (On With The Story)’ emulates the wired sound of Justice and ‘Only Man’ borrows the banging style of Skint Records. Throughout, Simon Franks muses on broken Britain and broken hearts in a half-spoken reportage style somewhere between Shaun Ryder and Mike Skinner (albeit lacking that pair’s street poetry). Neither subtlety nor invention is Audio Bullys forte. They’re at their best when they’re giving it to us with both barrels, such as on the filthy electro throb of ‘Shotgun’.
Still, they occasionally change the tone to winning effect, most especially on the glazed ‘Daisy Chains’ and the wearily resigned ‘Dragging Me Down’. For the most part, though, they veer towards the primitive. Until they stop battering us over the head with their big beats and make some sort of evolutionary leap, Audio Bullys will remain in the realm of curiosities.