- Perc's fourth album shrouds his fire and brimstone techno in post-punk gloom.
- Ali Wells's fourth album begins with a lovely bit of fluttering Krautrock electronica, with subtle choral pads and a synth lead among the prettiest in his discography. But just when you're used to the idea of Perc going all Four Tet, an almost hilariously distorted kick drum lands like Jack Torrance hammering through the door in The Shining. "Can You Imagine?" settles into the kind of clanking metal you'd expect from a Perc album, and it's all choppy sailing from there. With no distinct concept this time, and no huge surprises, The Cut Off—which is the UK producer's first full-length in seven years—almost feels like an "I'm still here" transmission. It's a defiant collection from a techno artist who excels at the album format and proves that he can still hold his own with the kids and their own ever-accelerating style of dance music.
There are a lot of the usual Perc tics and quirks here. Tory kiss-off? Check—with the rollicking, textural techno of "Milk Snatcher's Return," a reference to Margaret Thatcher (and quite possibly Liz Truss). A track with screeching guest vocals? Sure—Sissel Wincent shows up to writhe and shout on the gnarled "Static," which feels like the spiritual sequel to "Look What Your Love Has Done To Me. This time it's embellished with surprisingly tasteful dentist drill samples that rise and fall like evil hoovers. And serrated, screwfaced tracks like "Imperial Leather" and "Fett 23" are what Perc does best: fire and brimstone techno that does more than just clobber the listener.
Though Wells separates himself from the happy hardcore-esque techno of the post-pandemic boom, The Cut Off is hardly retro—it's just stubbornly itself. He gestures to the newer generation with the brilliant EAS collaboration "Cold Snap" and its zippy acid lead, which lends an unusually frenetic motion to Perc's lumbering beats, and acts as one of hell of a co-sign for the rising Los Angeles producer, too. "Full Goblin" has some impressive sound design—razor-sharp hi-hats and snares ricocheting across the stereo spectrum—while "UK Style" sounds like an off-cut from Throbbing Gristle's 20 Jazz Funk Greats, a wonderful piece of ambience that goes beyond the usual techno album interlude thing.
The Throbbing Gristle connection is key. Perc is a techno producer first and foremost, but he makes techno steeped in an industrial UK tradition of avant-garde music and post-punk. That's industrial in the original sense, not just hard-as-nails techno with metallic sounds in it. His music is rarely funky, but rather claustrophobic, full of dread, reflecting the society around it. In a funny way, you can almost trace the UK's political climate through his last three albums, all of which are stone cold classics of modern techno. The latest finds him at a crossroads, but also makes sense with how things are going: stuck at a fork, not sure which path to take. More of the same old, with a few new things to be angry about.
Tracklist01. Can You Imagine?
02. Milk Snatcher's Return
03. Static feat. Sissel Wincent
04. Heartbeat Popper
05. Cold Snap feat. EAS
06. Imperial Leather
07. UK Style
08. Full Goblin
09. Fett 23
10. Calcify