OB1, Austin Corrosive, MK303, Tassid – Digital Rejects 001

Though the System Rejects crew are sticking to their original philosophy of keeping it vinyl, they’ve launched an offshoot  label for exclusive digi releases. There’s no crossover, they promise, and on the evidence of this first outing, no dip in quality either. Oh, and they came fully tagged.

Things kick off in fine style with Acid.647  by OB1. It has cantering percussion and a lovely echo-soaked kickdrum, with a brutal acid line acting as a framing device of for high-pitched squiggly sirens. A metallic riff not dissimilar to the breakdown in Unlucky Punk by Magnum Force completes the picture. Like a lot of the best London-style Acid out this year, it nods to the past while sounding bang up-to-date – with the emphasis on bang.

Next, Austin Corrosive’s Head Off finds him in a discursive mood, letting one of the acid lines meander down interesting melodic avenues before pulling it all back into shape where it tussles with another, both vying for supremacy of the track. Think of The Oracle by Cosmic Trigger given a sprayjob and you’re almost there.

Meanwhile, MK303’s Hero Challenge is as hard as nails. I dare you to listen to the intro without clenching your jaw. Jagged sounds drop in at will, intensifying what is a brutal, thrilling experience, while at the 2.47 mark there’s a break that is absolutely not to be missed, before a monumentally epic, transcendentally headfucking outro. There’s only one word for it, and that word is ‘Whoosh.’

Rounding out what is clearly a thoughtfully constructed release (two total bangers, two more idiosyncratic tracks) is Only Some Will Understand by Tassid. A breath of fresh air, it more or less dispenses with the usual structure, serving up a machines-in-crisis sound that not only rewards repeat listening but sounds brilliantly disruptive in the mix.

Get if from: System Rejects

Various – Scum Like Us (Corrosive)

We’ve been waiting a while for the release of this, with Scum Like Us featuring on SUF t-shirts before appearing in any home-listening sense, and now – shit the bed! – here it is. It’s the addictive vocal that really makes it, of course, that and the filthy acid, and it’s so good that I’m going to forget all about Pies n Mash, just pretend it never happened.

Back to this EP and the Naked Rockstars serve up something a bit different in Acid Corporation, a high-paced but lower-key acid bubbler, old skool in feel. The current trend is to go all-out, full-on filthy, so this represents a welcome change of pace, building and building very elegantly. Props go to Badger, AP and Josh Inc., the droogs behind it. And finally, Nightmare by Austin Corrosive, Tassid, Chris Liberator & Sterling Moss, which samples the rap from an old Kid Unknown track (I think) and is a full-throttle stormer, unleashing sheet-metal waves of acid. Sheer brilliance, just as you’d expect from the names above the door.

Get if from: 909