Customer Reviews

Ununited Kingdom

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

 

 

I've been a fan of Pitchshifter for a few years now. I first heard their music on Twisted Metal 3 for the Playstation and then again on the Mortal Kombat Annhilation soundtrack. I have all of their albums but what I didn't have was this EP and the remix album. So I finally decided to buy this EP and I have to say, it's as good any of their full lenght CDs. All four songs on here are really good songs, I wish I had ordered this sooner.

1. Un-United Kingdom: A very good song with (in my opinion) some of the best guitar riffs to come from PSI. They're reall pissed at the UK aren't they? This is one of my favorite(if not my favorite) PSI song.

2. Everything Sucks (Again): This sounds familiar..hmmm...oh yeah! This song also appears on their later album "Deviant" but it's a little different. The song is renamed "Everything's F***ed" and the chorus is changed from "Everything sucks again" to "Everything's f***ed". That's about it. Why they changed it like that I really don't know. I like the cleaner version which is on this EP better anyway.

3. Kerosene: A cover song. I can't remember who originally sang it. I never even heard the original version so I don't know if this does it justice or not (usually covers don't). But by itself this song is really good and I can relate to it ("I was born in this town and I'll probably die in this town"....paraphrasing). I may have to download the original to see which is better...but my bet would be on PSI.

4. Un-United Kingdom (Fuzz Townsend Remix): I actually like the remix better than the original. That is very uncommon for me. Usually I don't like remixes (Rob Zombie and Linkin Park are some exceptions). I think the vocals are clearer on the remix. This is the best track on this EP in my opinion. I really like this song/remix! (Has Fuzz Townsend done any other remixes?)

Go out and buy this EP right now, you won't regret it.

The title track is Pitchshifter's take on an 'Anarchy in the UK' style anthem, even down to the Union Jack on the cover artwork, and the guitar riff sounds over-familiar. Fortunately, Pitchshifter inject enough electronic mayhem to overcome cliche, and the Sex Pistols style guitar (sample?) doesn't sound too derivative... 'Kerosene' is a cover of Big Black's masterpiece, and though they crank up a fine cacophony, there is not really any comparison to the original. Surely you are setting yourself an impossible task to improve on a Big Black song in any case. If you are interested in a more succesful cover of 'Kerosene', try Oomph's (German metal industrialists). Overall, this is a solid effort, but the creep towards a more accessible Prodigy-orientated sound is concerning. I notice they now dress in fashionable sports clothing and have had their crusty hairstyles trimmed back. I am not against a brighter sound necessarily, I just feel Pitchshifter are losing the claustrophic, menacing edge that made their albums of the Earache label period so intense. But then, they have moved to a big label now, and without opening out their sound they will never shift enough units to pay for all that fashionable sports clothing.