FACTORY FLOOR

FACTORY FLOOR (DFA)

13/20

The eponymous full-length debut from this trio of British electro-industrialists comes heavy with expectation, and for good reason. Their material to date has espoused a unique form of throbbing, heads-down post-punk influenced techno that sounds genuinely incredible in a dark sweaty club. Previous single Two Different Ways – characterised by a sultry, snaking synth line which welds itself to your brainstem – makes a welcome appearance here, and the strobing, industrial pulsation of Fall Back is the band at their best. In fact, taken individually, each and every track is a scything, scathing slab of electromiserablism, and pretty much every single one hits the mark. But, when placed one after another, the formula feels exhausting. And exhausting in a ‘just finished a long-distance train journey’ kind of way, rather than a ‘been up all fucking night’ kind of way. The hands in the air Here Again takes a noticeably more accessible approach, in the sense that it’s both the most characteristically DFA track on the album and a chink of light in the otherwise stiflingly insular aesthetics. It might seem odd to complain of too much of a good thing, and we know we’d be eating our words (and the insides of our cheeks) if the very same set came screaming out of a warehouse sound system. But as a body of work to take home, sit down, and lose yourself in, the stylistic variation simply isn’t there. This isn’t the definitive statement it could have been.

– – – – – – – – – –

Words: Adam Corner