As I was looking for a place for the new album Push the Button, I realized that my CD player already held 4 albums with Chemical Brothers. I now have a complete collection of their five albums, plus a handful of singles picked up on sale for the remixes. Which means that it's a top five band in my record collection...
And why is that? Why would anybody want a complete, ten year collection of albums from a dance act? Most dance acts should be so lucky if their second single becomes half as popular as their first, and putting together an entire album is way out of reach for most.
I think CB have a sort of rock approach towards the music: They have a distinct style, but they can make variations on the style and develop over time although they still sound like themselves. A CB album is more than just 50 minutes of the same beat with different synth riffs, it varies from the jumpy dance-and-shout-along anthems, through more hypnothic dance to "real songs" and maybe even a ballad. Using rock guitars, cithars, song, rap, samples, synth and ethnic percussion. Yet always recognizable as the same act that told us The Brothers're Gonna Work It Out. And always able to come up with a few truly memorable single tracks to sing, shout and jump along with.
Push The Button is no different. New, but all the same. Tradition with variation. New elements include some political phrases that you may or may not find relevant on dance music. I generally don't like overtly political music, so I'm not so fond of this either. But the music still kicks as much butt as ever.
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