Background
As stated in my previous reviews about Knife Party, Knife Party started off as a side project coined by Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen of Pendulum, but it became their main act. After a few insanely popular remixes, most notably of "Spitfire" by Porter Robinson and "Save The World" by Swedish House Mafia, they released their debut EP, "100% No Modern Talking EP." From there, the Australian duo's success is legend: Knife Party is a staple name in EDM and the duo has released multiple EP's and even an album, "Abandon Ship." "Trigger Warning" is the fourth and most recent of the duo's trend of 4-track EP's. It was quietly released two days ago (even I didn't know about it until today) and the tracks were revealed a day early via 1001Tracklists.
Review
Listen to "Trigger Warning"
It's strange to me that I didn't even know this EP had released until two days after it had, even though I follow Knife Party on SoundCloud, YouTube, and Facebook. Stranger still is the minimalistic approach to the cover art, as the duo's logo, the knife in the circle, is not the main focus of the artwork, as it has been for all their other works. Yet perhaps the strangest thing about this release is the fact that it doesn't really feel like Knife Party. Sure, anyone listening to this EP could probably nail down their signature sound as distinctly theirs, but it lacks the hard edge that makes their music such a good standard and example of where bass music could and should be. It's also worth mentioning that this is the first Knife Party release to feature a remix on the release itself, which means that one of four valuable spots on the EP does not feature the classic Knife Party sound, further detracting from the soul of the EP. That being said, it's not a bad release under the wide umbrella of EDM as a whole. "PLUR Police," which supposedly stands for "Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect," features catchy robotic vocals based on the song "Bad Boys," with "bad boys" swapped out for "PLUR police" in the actual melody. The rest of the song is just big room, and, while miles better and more progressive than your average big room track, it's still just big room, which, from Knife Party, is rather below the standard they've set for themselves. It's got a rather exciting cinematic breakdown in the middle, but it's faded into and out of too quickly and I wish it had been expanded upon. In what's probably the best song off of the EP, "Parliament Funk" has that classic electro groove that I'd expect from "Rage Valley" Knife Party. The drop gets repetitive fast, and it's not nearly as funky as the title implies, but the rhythmic bass hits and pounding electro groove do drive the track nicely and the rosk-ish guitar and drums, especially present in the intro and the second build, are reminiscent of Pendulum, which is a nice throwback to the duo's older work. The last of the originals on this EP is a collaboration with Tom Staar called "Kraken," but the electro and big room hybrid just comes out sounding like another "EDM banger," that is to say, a generic track meant to be played at festivals and not much else. It is nice, though, to note the lack of distorted kick that usually defines big room house. The drop is catchy, but it gets repetitive quickly, and not even the toe-tapping beat can save this track. In a rather ironic turn of events, the hardest track on the EP isn't even Knife Party's. Jauz's remix of "PLUR Police (Jauz Remix)" takes the catchy vocal line from the original and frees it from its generic big room prison. His heavy, dissonant wobbles and growls in an absolutely massive dubstep beat are actually the saving grace of what would otherwise be a complete waste of 17 minutes. The mix feels a little rough around the edges at times, but that's more nit-picky than anything, because it's such a relief to hear something a little edgy on this album.
And, if anything, that's my main complaint with "Trigger Warning:" it's too safe. It feels like Knife Party made an album to pander to their average festival-goer, but that's never what they've been about. Knife Party have always been about pushing the boundaries of EDM, going a little harder than the average listener is comfortable with. More recently, however, their sound has been becoming a little more careful, like they're trying not to offend anyone. My advice: offend someone. Jauz had the guts to make a hard track; follow in his footsteps. I know it was released first, but Jauz's remix has more plays than every other song on the album combined for a reason. Overall, "Trigger Warning" feels rushed, and a little bit too careful. I'll still be picking it up, as I own all of Knife Party's discography, and I don't plan on breaking that tradition, but such a generic album is not high on my priority list. 5/10
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