The Freestylers

Pressure Point (Mammoth)
by Lex Marburger

OK, so there are no individual elements that are new. Still, you can’t say that Freestylers aren’t catchy. Take yr big beat electronica (a la Chem Bros), and throw in limber-lipped reggae dancehall toasters (think of Bounty Killer’s rap on No Doubt’s “Hey Baby,” but more incomprehensible. Or think of that Snow song about a decade ago, give him massive amounts of soul, and make his backing tracks imminently rave-able. All right, you can stop thinking of Snow now. Please).

I know, Death In Vegas did this on Dead Elvis, but Freestylers are much more upbeat. So what’s the big deal? Well, Pressure Point doesn’t sound like the other stuff out there. It’s not so Brit as said Chem Bros, it’s not as ironic as the Fatboy, and less rocked-out then Crystal Method. So that’s what it’s not. But what is it? It fuckin’ bounces. When you mix the precision beats of Aston Harvey and Matt Cantor with the unpredictable rhythms of toasters like Tenor Fly and Navigator, the worlds collide and humanize, energy bursts from the speakers, and you get something that’s more than the sum of its parts. Looking for your summer CD, top down, all that? Pressure Point.
(http://www.freestylers.net)