Critter EP // L.A.W

Label: Illegal Alien Records
Format: Digital
Release Date: 10/02/2014

Irish sister duo Lisa & Alice Wallace aka L.A.W are becoming something of a favourite here at Stray Landings. With previous releases on Rebekah’s Decoy Records and Slap Jaxx Music, their latest ‘Critter’ EP via Illegal Alien Records is perhaps our favourite to date, featuring two L.A.W originals backed by remixes from Chris Colburn & Mexican producer Fixeer.

L.A.W’s thickly textured ‘Repulse’ opens the EP, a track with a surprising amount of groove given how powerful it is. The track’s slowly developing atmospheres and earth-shaking warehouse aesthetic wouldn’t sound out of place in a mix by Oscar Mulero or Collabs 3000.

Chris Colburn follows up with a stripped-back remix of the original, booming 4/4 kick drums taking focus in this offering to small hours techno. Along with Colburn’s general economising of the track, he strips back the track’s synth line to a sparsely placed, molten clang, pulsing beneath a dense low-end rumble.

Rugged, machine-like sounds dominate no-holds-barred title track ‘Critter’. In essence, the track’s formula is a rather simple one, yet the interaction between the Wallace’s hammering kicks and rushing clap phrases makes for some pretty euphoric moments, and will be an undoubtable favourite on the dancefloor.

Closing the release is a reinterpretation of the track by Fixeer. Having not heard of the DJ/producer previously, I was curious to see what the result would be. Fixeer brings an edge to the track reminiscent of Brian Sanhaji, with his frequent use of slow, reverberant buildups. Similarly to Colburn’s remix Fixeer takes a much more minimalist approach to the track, the contrasting approaches making for a well balanced release.

Published
Feb 13, 2014

Credits
Words by Theo Darton-Moore

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Critter EP // L.A.W