Medicine 8 - 'Iron Stylings' (Regal)
3/5
By: Thomas Hannan
In dance circles, when your list of admirers includes names such as Morillo, Emerson, Carter, Cox and Tong before even releasing your first album, then it's unavoidable that everyone else will at least raise an eyebrow. It's been a long, painstaking process, but the highly anticipated debut, full-length release from Medicine 8 (as championed by the aforementioned DJs) is now upon us.
'Iron Stylings' is the first brainchild of the brothers Liam and Luke May. You may have heard of them before as simply 'Medicine', before fiddly legal details got in the way. Now they have arrived fully on the scene, with the addition of a flashy new '8' to their name, they intend to make an impact.
If that's the whole purpose for the album, then it's a resounding mission accomplished. The feeling from beginning to end is that this album is one with a job to do, and whilst it's a job that has of course been done many times before, it's attempted with no less sense of purpose this time around, as the playful opening manifesto 'Speaking Music, F**king Music' instantly lets on. Similar to the Chemical Brothers' 'Music: Response', it's an early highlight of the LP, making use of infectious beeping and simple spoken vocals - a template used for many of the songs featured after it.
What holds back 'Iron Stylings' is that said template is simply used too often, to varying degrees of success. Whilst it may work a treat on the opener and 'Rock Music Pays Off', there are times when it becomes stale all too soon, like on a slightly predictable and drug-riddled 'Donuts Prozak'. It needs something special to make the same trick be as entertaining each time, and although the creation of each piece is obviously a labour of love, sometimes the magic is lacking from the final product. Thankfully, where others fall prey to the trap often, Medicine 8's tunes never get too wrapped up in themselves, but the fact remains that having many overly comparable tracks next to each other dulls the impact of the individual efforts.
Where it does work best is where it breaks free from the restrictions of its self-imposed boundaries, daring to venture into uncharted territory that little bit further on the ragga-house single 'Capital Rocka' and closer 'Ape Don't Kill Ape'.
Lyrically, there are continuous references to rock and roll, especially on the penultimate 'Even The Beetles, The Monkeys' which simply name-checks influential acts of yesteryear such as 'Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones...' repeatedly, whilst harking back not to those they mention, but instead the likes of 'Homework'-era Daft Punk. They even claim another standout track, the really rather good 'Mystery Murdered', was influenced by the Velvet Underground, although whether this is musically or just through a shared appreciation of mind-altering substances remains unclear.
Its redeeming qualities do outweigh its less imaginative moments, but 'Iron Styling's constant swapping from peak to trough makes the whole process seem a slightly disjointed one. It serves its purpose sufficiently, but future efforts would do well to branch out just that little bit more to avoid becoming lost amongst their lesser contemporaries. The brothers describe themselves as purveyors of 'filthy house music', and at its best it is something to take notice of, but the stronger parts of 'Iron Stylings' make you wish the rest of the album could match them in terms of getting that little bit more dirty.
Artists in this article: Medicine 8
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment