Knife Party | 100% No Modern Talking EP

Background

As stated in my previous review about Knife Party, Knife Party was originally a side project of two members of the drum and bass band Pendulum, but eventually the Australian duo, Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, made the project their main act.  After a few insanely popular remixes, most notably of "Spitfire" by Porter Robinson and "Save The World" by Swedish House Mafia, released their debut EP, "100% No Modern Talking EP."  Modern Talking refers to a popular waveform in the synthesizer NI Massive, which has a negative reputation for being so overused in the making of electronic basses, most commonly growl and vocal basses.

Review

Listen to "100% No Modern Talking EP"

Knife Party couldn't have burst into the scene with a bigger debut.  "100% No Modern Talking EP" made waves in the electronic music community, and it's racked up 7 million plays on their SoundCloud alone.  The first track, the mega-famous "Internet Friends" which has over 39 million plays across various videos on YouTube, features a robotic female voice ranting rather crudely about relationship issues.  She gets a little bit too obsessive, and after the famous line "You blocked me on FaceBook, and now you're going to die," the heavy electro drop kicks in after a couple string-like chord stabs.  There's a melodic chord interlude in the middle, and then we're back to the electro until the song ends.  Next up is "Destroy Them With Lazers," and it's more of a gimmick track than anything, although Knife Party is known for those.  Sci-fi blaster sounds serve as the core sound for the song, with the build-up being nothing but.  The drop is interesting, and the breakdown in the middle is well orchestrated, but it's not enough to offset the principle of the track.  However, from here on out the EP is nothing but fantastic, with "Tourniquet" next in line.  With no gimmicks and no bullshit, it's nothing but a hard electro beat with a sizzling ride cymbal and a glitchy, gritty bass-line.  The synth break in the middle is especially tasty, and then the beat drops again with renewed vigor.  In traditional house music style, the track ends with a drum loop.  "100% No Modern Talking EP" ends with  "Fire Hive," which is nothing but heavy dubstep.  It's definitely my favorite straight dubstep track from Knife Party; my friend and I listened to it endlessly for a while.  The gritty wobbles are offset by the 8-bit melody.  The second drop has a swung feel, and the beat is switched up slightly, but it doesn't lose the feel of the track, which is good.  "Fire Hive," with its dubstep beat, is a nice contrast to the heavy electro/moombahton of the first three tracks and is a good closer to the EP.

"100% No Modern Talking EP" has become a staple EP in electronic music repertoire, and for good reason: it's a hard-hitting EP filled to the brim with bass music, and from the psychotic vocals of "Internet Friends" to the deep growls of "Fire Hive," "100% No Modern Talking EP" is here to stay.  8/10

Notable Remixes

Internet Friends (heRobust's Run Da Trap Bootleg)

heRobust, in line with the title, has trapped out "Internet Friends" with 808 kick drums and a warped, gutted version of the song's original drop.  The heavy trap feel behind the completely glitched-out version of the original makes for a heavy trap track.

Tourniquet (Bebop Remix)

While I was expecting a catchy bebop cover of this electro track, Bebop mixes sawtooth basses with the original to create a unique breakbeat feel.  The sliding saws and the heavy glitching combine perfectly and bring a different, old-school feel to the track.

Fire Hive (Flatline Refix)

It's not technically a remix, but the Australian duo Flatline redefine glitching with their edit of "Fire Hive."  While it seems to be a theme of "100 No Modern Talking EP" remixes, Flatline's fix has been completely flipped on its head.  It's now more upbeat, and the only dance I can see going along with this is a zombie on speed.  Whatever mental image you get, there's no denying that the Flatline edit of "Fire Hive" is a fresh take on the original and a textbook example of good glitching.  Make sure to check out the second drop, it's insane.