Customer Reviews

Ego War

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Audio Bullys give out a mighty loud shot with Ego War.
For all those interested in Original Music, this is a must buy.
It's punky, it kicks hard, it's humourous and it's catchy!

A couple of impressive facts to mention - Audio Bullys give you an
unbelievable variety of hard powerful bass lines and drum patterns.
Ego War is full of funny, simplistic and extremely catchy dance melodies.
It is very energetic. It has some nasty character and punches hard.

Audio Bullies are not only self-proclaimed hooligans, they are real Sound Abusers.
Pump up the Volume!
Punish your neighbours before they punish you! ;)

Favourite tracks: We Don't Care, Face In a Cloud, Veteran.

Best dancefloor record of the past few years, yes, outgunning recent releases by Basement Jaxx and Prodigy, is "Ego War." Let me explain. What the Audio Bullys [Tom Dinsdale & Simon Franks] do here is make it real dirty -- their polished blend of punk sensibility, cigarette-heavy vocals [courtesy of Simon], and dancefloor-ready loops and jams is made for Adidas- and Spiewak-wearing scenesters who want to get their "mash" on. Picking up on the recent British trend of soundclash, mixing up pop and rock records with dirty dance beats and white label remixes, the Bullys breathe in some fresh air to the British dance scene.

Their sound production is well-developed and clearly influenced by acts like Stereo MCs, Prodigy, Lo Fidelity Allstars, Midfield General and nearly anything on Skint Records. Their love of big boisterous beats and tieing them to dodgy lyrics and loops echoes through the entire CD.

The best tracks on this record are the party anthems, easily foreseeable as spins from a Fatboy Slim wannabe. "I Go to Your House" is a finger-popping shoulder-shrugger complete with smoky repetitive vocals and an almost rapped lyrical delivery. "The Snow" pushes the buttons further, kicking it into a grab-your-mates-and-the-draw kind of way, with uplifting keyboards and pumping bass. It gets dirtier on "Hit the Ceiling" where the bass throbs deeper and the commanding protagonist wails "i'm in love with you and i just can't commit myself." But, by far the dirtiest track is the leadoff single, "We Don't Care," which layers headbanging shouts of "we don't care" over electronic squeals and pounding bass.

Just about every song is good and worthwhile for the next club night, but ultimately the CD loses a star due to percussive repetitiveness and the missed opportunity to add a brilliant duet or two with vocals from someone like Liam Gallagher or Skunk Anansie. What's going for it are the interesting lyrics though - very hard to come by on any dance record. If you're looking to scouse up your collection (that means to "dirty" it up), pick up Audio Bullys.

A fresh sound. Just what I'd been looking for! The perfect blend of street and club music. Very upbeat and fun which is perfect for the summertime. My favorite tracks are Hit The Ceiling and We Don't Care. Can't wait to see them live!

... With better beats and more interesting production overall, Audio Bullys grabbed my attention and held on tight. Unfortunately, The Streets haven't fared so well. Yeah, I liked them at first, but over time I just started to get bored. On "Ego War" be prepared to feel like dancing. Both Bullys and Streets approach similar topics of drugs and city life, but Audio Bullys prove themselves to be much more merit-worthy.

Audio Bullys es definitivamente la mejor banda nueva que se ha dejado escuchar en los últimos años, si bien, la portada del disco habla de una inmensa variedad de ritmos fusionados por audio bullys (punk, funk, ska, garage) hay tres que sobresalen del resto, HOUSE, HIP-HOP y POP... las Rolas de la banda se construyen sobre bases electrónicas, con un hip hop encima y partes cantadas melódicas y punketas... Soooooooo COOL!!!!

This CD is fantastic. I read a review in Blender and was excited to hear the album. These guys brilliantly mix hip-hop, electro-punk, big beat electronica, two-step, and dub into a wonderful album that I can listen toat home, in the car, at work: it fits all situations. Favorite tracks: We Don't Care, Face In a Cloud, and Ego War. This album is a definite buy.

I can honestly say I like each and every one of these tracks. They're better than the overly-hyped The Streets. The production of the disc is awesome, props to them. One of my favourite CDs. Never boring and fun to dance to as well.

Audiobully's debut packs a worthy punch. I have been listening to the tracks and watching the vid.'s on Astralwerks web-site for sometime now, and have been thouroughly impressed. I put off buying the album because I knew I would have to struggle to find it here in Oklahoma, but whew, thank goodness for trendy national chain bookstores, I managed to get my hands on it. I really put my mind to this after seeing that Mixmag ranked it their number 1 album of the year over Kish Kash, Speakerbox/Love Below, Boy in Da Corner, and Never Never Land. These were the tunes I'd been drooling over all year long, and thought "there has to be something to it," so I purchased it and I'm jamming to it right now, waiting to unleash the Eurotrash Jams on some unsuspecting partiers when finals end this week. Unlike some of the other people who reviewed this, I refuse to compare to this cd to the streets. This cd is a lot more urbanized and studio perfected than "Original Pirate Material," it is therefore much more danceable. It has a lot of ambient, nod your head qualities; where OPM has a lot of get drunk and sing along vibes. Deffinitely not as personal or as lyrically intense as the Streets, I think that the audio bullys are a more listenable group, and fear the ripping off of my Oklahoma Underground fun if they ever go big. Probably, a must have album if your into garage, dance, or electronic music. Also complements the new sounds of the year like Elephant, Junior Senior, and Room on Fire(mix it up a bit). If you like these guys, check out Dizzee Rascal - the next big thing - It's refreshing to see Europeans emmersed in a culture created in America(hip-hop)...
ha ha ha

I discovered these guys through video games; "We Don't Care" from SSX 3 and "The Snow" from True Crime:SoLA. Since I really enjoyed the vibe of these 2 songs, I went out on a whim and bought this album based on the songs alone. In the end, I was was only mildly pleased with what I heard.

First my favorites. I enjoyed the aforementioned songs from the first paragraph as well as "Real Life", "The Tyson Shuffle", "The Things", "I Go to Your House", and for some reason, the second half of "Ego War". All these songs had excellent and unique production that really shined to me. In addition, the singing they incorporated in selected songs from above fit really well to.

The rest of the songs however let me down. To put it simply, they just had dull production or things just didn't mesh right many times.

Overall, I think these guys can make good stuff, but this album is not a worthy competitor to my other 5 star albums. That is, the songs that I enjoyed were GOOD songs and not just good enough for one or two listens but the rest of the album isn't going to reel me in anytime soon. Here's hoping the next album of theirs I listen to is a little more solid.

There are some songs in this world that you'll sing along to, whether it's playing or not, for the rest of your life. "We Don't Care" by Audio Bullys is one of those for me. But I'll get to that in a moment. Ego War is the duo's debut album, and it oftentimes plays like a cartoon snapshot of British dance music from the late 90's to the early 00's. The basic sound is hook-heavy house, a la Basement Jaxx, although much surlier and mixed with bits of hip hop and dub and garage. The vocals fluctuate between deadpan chants and quick raps reminiscent of 90's stars Stereo MC's. Despite the fact that everything they do seems to have an obvious antecedent, the pair is pretty successful at carving out their own distinctive sound for this record.

And talk about catchy! Audio Bullys' primary strength is as producers, and these songs are all anchored by some of the most monstrous hooks ever heard in music. The melodic refrain on opener "Snake" is repeated over a squelchy synth line that will stick with you forever. Likewise for the brash chorus on "100 Million" and the stuttering melody of the title track, and "Face in a Cloud" is a particular standout as it rides a Joe Cocker sample and is probably the most sophisticated production on the album. But then there's "We Don't Care": possibly intended as a group anthem and succeeding completely, the entire album is encapsulated here. Led by an unforgettable hooligan refrain by Simon Franks, the three-note melody line and pounding house beat, slightly informed by jumped-up dub and grime, will never leave your head. EVER. I first bought this album two years ago, and I've hummed some part of this one song every single day since then. No lie. Every single day.

So yes, I do recommend this album. While the pair's songwriting isn't necessarily the best, it hardly matters in the face of their clown car's worth of amazing hooks and fantastic productions. But I feel obligated to warn you all: there's a finite capacity to the human brain, and you'll never ever get the space back once you fill it with "We Don't Care" from Ego War, so if you're planning any scientific breakthroughs in your lifetime, you might want to save this album for afterwards, just in case.