Album Review by Mark Bayross
The second album from genre-hopping crossover kids Gerling sees the Australians up the ante from their debut CHILDREN OF TELEPATHIC EXPERIENCES in terms of both refinement and ambition, not least in their choice of collaborators (Solex and Cornelius, among others…).
Landing firmly in the indie-dance-rock territory inhabited by everyone from the Chemical Brothers to fellow Aussies The Avalanches, HEADZCLEANER finds Gerling honing the occasionally scrappy collision of ideas of their debut album into a more linear, shiny 2002 model.
Opening with the mellow, liquid sound of PHAZER KIDZ IN THE WINDY CITY, the album takes its cue from the Daft Punk-style robotized groove of recent single DUST ME SELECTA, reaching its peak with the surefire hit of G-HOUSE PROJECT, with none other than celebrity fan Kylie Minogue on guest vocals, repeating the squillion-unit-shifting turn of her recent career-best form.
Of course, Gerling can’t resist throwing their trusty lo-fi guitars into the mix, but when they do, they show off their newly-acquainted status with Mr Tune, and on FIGHT REVOLUTION TEAM, they even throw some strings into the bargain. Perhaps the most ear-catching track here is BROTHER KEITH ON DESTRUCTOR MOUNTAIN (4001), in which legendary rapper Kool Keith (cf The Prodigy’s DIESEL POWER) rants semi-coherently over a brooding beat.
But don’t get me wrong, I haven’t suddenly seen the Gerling light – not everything here has evolved beyond the half-baked ideas of their previous outing. DEKA is a tuneless shout-a-thon, and SERPENTHEADZ ambles along with the sole purpose of making the THE DEER IN YOU sound good.
Admittedly, HEADZCLEANER does lose its sense of invention towards the end – the penultimate couple of songs retread much of the band’s former anaemic rambling – but the closing WE DESIGN THE FUTURE redeems the album with a blissful trance workout.
So, by no means perfect, but a massive improvement on the irritating wackiness of before. Good work, fellas.
