"The brothers gonna work it out"
The Chemical Brothers debut explicitly opens with a sample of Kraftwerk's 1975 song Ohm Sweet Ohm, but instead of transitioning into a slow dirge like the Kraftwerk song, The Chemical Brothers power right into a Big Beat assembly. Now The Chemical Brothers are seen as one of the forerunners of Big Beat and Exit Planet Dust is definitely a precise exercise of that particular style. A shame that the record as a whole just gets lost in the context of 90s club music in general.
Although it may not sound very dated entirely because this type of music just as a natural ability to sound cool, The Brothers work out some neat variations, like on their hyper intense cover of Song To The Siren. But then again the squealing synths get a bit overbearing on songs like Three Little Birdies Down Beats. This type of squeal sounds like something that The Crystal Method would try and imitate on their album Vegas. The first part of the deep beat tracks F**k Up Beats puts together a swift bulky but moody moment that fleets away on Chemical Beats. A track that just kinda repeats the tricks of Three Little Birdies.
For the first time The Chemical Brothers slow down on Chico's Groove, but the slow sway that goes down only gets most appealing when the voice samples drop in. There is something about this second half of the album that really develops more character. Because the better moments like One Too Many Morning, Life Is Sweet, and Playground For A Wedgeless Firm. Life Is Sweet is particularly memorable with Tim Burgess providing some slick Madchester like vocals to the cut. While Playground is a shorter but thick electronic moment of psychedelia. With some great drum loops, samples, and heavy distorted synths.
The theme of the album is made somewhat clear, and that is one of the reasons why Exit Planet Dust doesn't come of as cringy. The end of the album is like the closing to a coming of age film, because the album is kinda like a coming of age film. "Leaving Home", "Alive Alone" that is basically what the album is about. It's the sounds of the rebellious youth of the 90s bathing themselves in both the world of ecstasy lined music. A sound and cultural movement that I think marked the second wave of punk.
By: CarCRashInterior.