If one thing’s made clear upon the release of Filthy Dukes’ debut, it’s that their adoration for all things electro clearly surges through their veins like neon glow-stick goo. Heck, this trio earned their stripes
re-working the spiky angular assaults of yesteryear’s indie brigade long before they embarked on their own mission statement.
And like a pack of nocturnal, beat-snorting nightcrawlers, ‘Nonsense In The Dark’ opens with ‘This Rhythm’, the kind of seedy, glitch-laden three minutes best reserved for after a hedonistic cocktail that could disable a herd of wild elephants. Yet for all its playful synths and camp abandon (thanks largely to Late Of The Pier’s Samuel Dust’s delivery) it never quite scales the heights it threatens to.
Subsequently, ‘What Happens Next’ sees them raiding Justice’s ‘†’ album, smothering it in slap-bass, and hitting cruise control. Danceable, but with an over-familiarity no amount of debauched party vibes can disguise.
Better is ‘You Better Stop’, a building spiral of metallic, robo-tron synth stabs that sounds like Laurent Garnier and Vitalic doing battle for your every last endorphin rush: it’s a standout moment. Continuing their ram-raid of indie alliances, which are peppered throughout, The Maccabees’ Orlando Weeks takes to the microphone for the title track, which skulks along like a distant cousin of The Chemical Brothers’ ‘The Sunshine Underground’, a comparison The Dukes have long been drawn to.
Closer ‘Don’t Fall Softly’ is more emotive moment amid the juddering, bass-rattling bedlam. The Secret Machines’ Brandon Curtis this time lends vocals, and proves it’s not just his brother that may have grown out of the Saturn-sized prog assault usually favoured by the Machines. It may occupy the same spacey territory, but musically it’s more New Order than Rush, and contains itself within the simple loop throughout.
‘Nonsense…’ is a strong debut, and one that does its best to please from all angles. This could however also prove to be where Filthy Dukes lose some of their own authenticity, as it races along, mashing their endless adorations into one work. But as said, this trio clearly has years of influences to cover, so their debut was never going to be an all-out straightforward affair.
