Dirty Beatniks

Having ingested the Second Summer of Love's acid house good-vibery, Dirty Beatniks saw the inherent similarity to early-'80s underground breaks and decided to make the two walk down the aisle -- even if it took a shotgun at their backs to do it. One One Seven in the Shade is a grubby, clattery, and wholly bestial record. But luckily, it hasn't yet come to terms with its influences. Like better big beat, "Don't Stop" eschews wonky samples in favor of scorching old-skool instrumental hip-hop, giving the likes of the Chemical Brothers much fuel for their live sets, while "Straight & Narrow" is all uncorked breakbeats trying to reconstruct those clammy, clenched all-nighters. There is a sense of the album losing steam at mid-point, but only a Belle & Sebastian fan would be intractable enough to not realize how tricky it is for this stuff to work. ~ Dean Carlson, All Music Guide