Evil Nine - They Live

Evil Nine return with a long awaited follow up to You Can Be Special Too. The 2004 album brought with it the unforgettable anthem with Asop Rock: Crooked is an indispensable addition to any break mix and shows no sign of getting old. You Are Not Through was beautifully simple and haunting. So it was with bated breath that I turned on the new album. I really want to like it as much as its predecessor.
 
They Live! claims to be the beginnings of a zombie revolution. The cover artwork is designed by Dan Mumford who has produced covers for bands such as Gallows. Evil Nine (Tom Beaufoy and Pat Pardy) claim the album follows this theme and the title track is dedicated to the 1988 John Carpenter film of the same name. With the Charlie Brooker series, Dead Set, out next week it seems zombies are in the ascendant. They Live is one of the stand-out tunes of the album with a catchy chorus positioned on top of hypnotic electro scores. It’s not about to turn you into a zombie but that’s probably a good thing.
 
Unfortunately, the album starts fairly slowly. Feed On You is an underwhelming track that doesn’t deserve four minutes and would work better as shorter skit. The Wait, however, has a stomping tune and haunting vocals from David Autokratz. On All The Cash” El-P’s rapping sits on top of electro beats. How Do We Stop The Normals? fails to find a definitive answer and the repeated evocative beat stops short of hypnotising. You wish Evil Nine would stop trying to be normal (with European electro) and go back to what they’re good at (pushing boundaries with truly eclectic music).
 
Dead Man Coming featuring Toastie Taylor of British rap outfit New Flesh teases the listener but doesn’t follow through. Like a session of unfulfilling sex, the chorus builds towards a crescendo that fails to materialise despite everyone trying their best. Set It Off thumps through to a central peak; the second half is like freewheeling down a gentle slope, pleasurable but not exciting. Behemoth owes a reasonable debt to the current swathes of European electro-indie but there is a dearth of electronic outfits that can be sat apart from that crowd.
 
Twist The Knife with Emily Breeze, the Bristol-based country cowgirl is an interesting addition; much more of an indie or punk tune than anything else on the album. Luke Goss provides synthesised lyrics over a repetitive beat with just the right amount of break, while the final song, Icicles, is, like so much of the album, almost there. Its vocals tempt and its synths almost convert the listener before it all ends, a little too soon.
 
Evil Nine have always prided themselves on their diverse influences and they are certainly there on this album, just not quite as strongly as you’d like. The skits on the album pay homage to certain Ed Banger outfits unashamedly. There are still the hip-hop influences of You Can Be Special Too. And they sit well alongside the beats and bleeps but it’s not quite enough. It seems Evil Nine have bowed a little to pressure from the wider dance music landscape, maybe subconsciously, and lost something along the way.
 
They Live! is not quite the concept album Beaufoy and Pardy might have planned for but it’s not a bad attempt. But in trying to parody ‘80s zombies films, they’ve lost a lot of why they were so Special in the first place. I don’t think zombie soundtracks have enough depth for a whole album; especially when the band concerned is venerated for its diverse influences. Hopefully it’s a grower.