Singles

Don Diablo & Example - Hooligans

Nick Lewis 01/08/2009

Rating: 2/5

Despite what everyone else said, I really liked Never Outnumbered, Never Outgunned by The Prodigy. I thought it had just the right mix of hard beats and catchy tunes. I've also always been a bit partial to the work of the Audio Bullys for the same reason - there's something about pumping bass drums and distorted synths that just does it for me.

Don Diablo & Example have got all the right elements here. There's a big fat bass drum on every beat, there's an ultra-distorted woozy synth, even a distorted rave horn. There's also a hook or two “we came, we saw, we killed the crowd” being the main one. But it doesn't quite work. It might be that's everything's a little too distorted: it does sound a little like they're actually trying to kill the crowd. It might be that I'm not listening to it in a club. It might be that it's just doesn't have the tunes.

Personally, I'm a big fan of distortion, and listening to club music at home has never bothered me, so it must be the latter. They just haven't got the melody to justify all that noise. I'm sure it would get people dancing in a club, but they probably wouldn't rave about it afterwards - the hooks are far too functional - catchy but unmemorable. There are also far too many remixes (seven, count 'em). Some of them are actually quite good, better than the original in fact, but by golly these remix artists really know how to stretch a tune far beyond its breaking point, and its welcome.

Don Diablo & Example clearly know how to make the right sounds, but they need to study The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers a bit more to understand what makes this kind of music genuinely exciting. All that noise is pointless when there's no song attached to it.

In summary: if you're going to punch someone in the face and expect them to like it, give them something worth whistling through their cracked teeth.

Don Diablo & Example Myspace