Coming from a House of blackened floors and decaying morals, Polysick brandishes a drum machine like a butcher’s cleaver.
There are too many definitions of House. Period. Everyone has their own interpretation, including myself. Whenever someone says they listen to House I never have a clue what they mean. It can mean, for some, noise bleed battery or sunshine electric pop. Here’s a crude attempt to simplify. There are two main types of House, like peanut butter; Chunky and Smooth. Both have their pros and cons. In its smoother form the style can be more melodic and relaxed, but if the genre is presented in too suave a stream it can often dissolve into languishing longue. When House adopts a coarser, rawer, less social nature, it can come to life. Those jagged bits, exaggerated, omitted, emitted, produce a much rougher and more textured surface. But this uneven edge can lead to melodic meltdown. It’s all about the artist’s delivery and their ability to avoid the potholes. Polysick, as the name might suggest, is of the more fibrous and difficult to digest side of House. On imprints like Planet Mu and Strange Life and 100% Silk Paul Kersex has served a buffet of beaten basslines, bruised beats and bloodied synthbox action.
Thick bass and clipped cymbals introduce “Witness.” Soon collapsed samples are intimidated by claps and echoing spikes. The track bullies, crashes and complex rhythm patterns thumping the listener with a concrete clad Chicago barrage. “Rubberbeard” opens in similar fashion, 4/4 forms tumbling into jangled synthlines. Polysick stresses the sinister, macabre drum rolls further horrified by hooded vocals and cruel 303 gashes. To close the House horrowshow is one of the founders of the serrated Chicago style. James T. Cotton, one of the fathers of Jakbeat, turns his unique hand to “Rubberbeard.” The Ghostly veteran peels back some of the fervour of the original, shaving away snares and kicks to swirl a loop of grimacing harmonies. The track is late night descent, a fall into the awaiting underbelly, a bridge into the overwrought and morally suspect.
House never really went away after its founding in the 80s. But, the genre has enjoyed a new pride of place over the past five years. Polysick comes from the past traditions of Gherkin Records, and the continuation of that experiment with the likes of Traxx and his label Nation. Witness bulges and boils, kicks and snares stabbing as chords stalk with criminal intent. Coming from a House of blackened floors and decaying morals, Polysick brandishes a drum machine like a butcher’s cleaver. Unapologetically sadistic from start to finish; an EP for those who prefer a certain type of peanut butter.
Witness is available on MinimalRome. [Clone]
