PTI

Blackout (WTII)
by Wa

PTI spread their wings and soar from the ashes as a phoenix from what used to be a vibrant and dominating Chicago electro scene. It was clear after the response to their 2002 self-released album, SOS, that it wouldn’t be long before one of the major American electro labels roped them within their ranks. WTII is the perfect match, for, like PTI, they’ve been steadily re-emerging from the sale of their first incarnation, Wax Trax, that was pretty much dismantled after being sold to TVT.

Blackout, PTI’s first record for WTII, is a cool blend of EBM, industrial, synth-pop, and electro rock. Each song is exquisitely arranged with an ear on providing rolling melody lines that ride the heavy, throbbing undercurrents like a Zen-Buddhist surfer skipping on the waves of a surging ocean.

Their lyrics are a verb-friendly roar of dripping nihilism and scathing puns delivered in a unique and alternating style of strong harmonies, powerful exclamations, and soothing post-modern lullabies.

Favorites are the sure-to-be-club-hits “Gone Silicon,” “Identify,” “Databass,” and “Otherside,” the instrumental voyage of “Every Future’s Past,” the heavy nihilistic industrialism of “Condemnation” and “Ivory Tower,” and the touches of early A Broken Frame-era Depeche Mode-influenced “Vacant.”
(www.wtiirecords.com)