mp3: NEW RAVE KIDS ON THE BLOCK N-R-K-O-T-B
mp3: IMPOSTRA I Can’t Handle The New Generation
Having devoured enough ‘old rave’ to last a number of lifetimes, I’ve always been skeptical about the ‘new rave’ tag – although a shallow tag for a seemingly shallow genre if perhaps quite fitting. The name has been tagged to a fair few bands over the last couple of years, predominantly (although not exclusively) from England, and thus it’s interesting to see it crop up far across the Atlantic, in Sao Paulo. The three-piece, New Rave Kids On The Block (NRKOTB), have a list of influences that has been finely crafted to include both old and new schools (B-52s and Go!Team), the tragically hip and the gloriously unhip (Hadouken! Vs George Michael) – yet no Rave as such, save for a quick mention of Technotronic (cue strange rave-pop nostalgia). The sound of NRKOTB is exactly as you would expect – taking the Klaxons blueprint and pumping up the 4/4 electro component to offer greater access to the dancefloor. Fun thought this is, it feels just like a bite of fast food – a short, sharp hit of enjoyment followed by the hollow feeling that you’ve just been had.
Until recently, Impostra (pictured) were Bonde Das Impostra – whom I’ve been long grateful to for their funk carioca rubs of Britney and Kraftwerk, both of which found their way into my party sets. The Curitiba duo have been reborn for 2008 with their slimmed down title, and a change in style. More new wave than new rave, their new crop of tracks is led by the wonderfully titled ‘I Can’t Handle The New Generation’ – which might be exactly what you’re thinking just after you’ve listed to it. Much like NRKOTB, the comedown is as hard as hell, but for those one or two moments of wide-eyed, pupil-dilated joy, it all seems strangely worthwhile.