Underworld: Barking

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It’s safe to say that, along with Faithless, Underworld created the soundtrack for the mid-90s for this writer, a time of club music and club going, of raves and dance parties and general electronic carrying on. To this day, their breakout hit “Born Slippy” can send shivers down my spine.

So how does a duo who’s been playing together since 1979 (seriously, that long) fare releasing an album in 2010 that is remarkably true to that mid-90s sound, if slightly updated? Not badly at all.

New album Barking picks up, in many ways, where they left off with 2007’s Oblivion with Bells, and indeed, arguably a less dark version of seminal albums Dubnobasswithmyheadman and Second Toughest in the Infants. The lead track, “Bird 1,” sounds like it could have come directly off Oblivion, and while it’s not particularly memorable, it’s a solid track. Happily, the album picks up from there, with the second tune, “Always Loved a Film,” a solid tune with a stupidly catchy hook (that rested in this writer’s head for two days upon first listening); this song belongs on a soundtrack, likely of a film set in LA or London at night, capturing some of the throbbing energy of the night so present in major cities.

The third track on the album is also its first single, and arguably the most powerful track – at least in terms of its musical relationship to Underworld’s strongest works. Leading in with a beautifully-looped, peppy synth run, “Scribble” quickly jumps into classic Hyde vocals a la “Born Slippy,” with the repetitive “it’s okay…” perfectly riding the club-ready drum and bass line underneath. This song, as “Always Loved a Film,” gets in one’s head, and is perfect accompaniment for a pensive wander around a foreign place, or a fast bike ride or run… or yes, night at the club.

Following “Scribble,” the album takes a relatively down-tempo turn with “Hamburg Hotel,” “Grace,” “Moon in Water,” and “Louisiana,” all of which, oddly, reminded this author of a happy marriage of earlier Moby work with classic Air lines. The only disappointment, to these ears, of the album is the pop-rock “Diamond Jigsaw” – though perhaps it simply hasn’t found the perfect context for me yet.

Overall – if you liked Underworld years ago, you won’t be disappointed by this album. But it won’t give you the stamina to return to your 1996 energy levels…