Electro

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday April 25, 2008

Craig Mathieson

THE PRESETS

Apocalypso (Modular)

Take that, T.S. Eliot: according to the Presets, the world does end with a bang, not a whimper. Apocalypso, the Sydney duo's second album, is end of the days of disco, with grinding bass lines, stentorian vocals and beats that are relentless without offering a hint of release.

Their 2005 debut, Beams, was obsessively celebratory but new tracks such as the single My People - an inclusive anthem that transposes detention centres and the dance floor - suggest that Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes can't always get what they want. Hamilton doesn't always have the voice to match the pretty counter-melodies that surge through the likes of Eucalyptus, although Talk Like That sidesteps the problem by effectively cutting up his vocals in a similar manner to early Underworld.

The pair's taste for house music is tempered here, augmented by skeletal electro rhythms and pop touches that allow them to eulogise relationships instead of celebrating a lone night's frenzy. More than anything, though, they have a sense of assurance. Labelmates Cut Copy have just released a diffident second album but on Apocalypso the Presets go from strength to strength, frequency to frequency.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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