We should have known the high-energy duo that is Mob Tactics were not going to take is easy on us in the banger department this year. As the collective bass music world wakes up from the hangover of 2019, however, Eject, their new offering on RAM Records rolls from one pumped up dancefloor stinker to the next like – well, like a “Bulldozer.”
As is often the case with Mob Tactics, fans shouldn’t just expect fast, twitchy bangers with Eject. There’s almost always much more than meets the ear with an MT track and each one on this EP has some sort of twist, complex sound design or just a wildly difficult synth that draws in the ear to take a closer listen. Rene LaVice debuted the first track on the EP, “Thumper,” on Tuesday and there’s definitely a lot of extra twists there with a jumpy, surprisingly minimal beat and tons of tweeky flourishes so that gives a good preview of where this EP is going to be hitting when it releases tomorrow, January 17.
For our money, today’s Your EDM premiere “Bulldozer” may be the most complex yet also danceable of all the tracks on Eject. Opening with a sort of tribal beat and a ravey over-synth, “Bulldozer” moves so fast that audiences may think its actually quite a bit faster than 174 but that’s thanks for the most part to the snares. Fast and relentless, they pull the beat – which is actually a backwards syncopated roller throwback – into a sort of spinning whirlwind of bass. The only reprieve listeners get is an amen break every other phrase but that too is folded into these lightning-speed snares and hardly feels like a break at all.
Synth-wise, the main sound is actually quite a bit more sparse than it seems but that’s because it’s backed by a really interesting harmonizing sub bass synth and then the rest of the space in each phrase is taken up by seemingly random buzz noises that sometimes sound like mini-breaks themselves, but they won’t feel that way.
The initial melodic, ravey synth of the intro comes in every other bar or so but it can’t be called a main synth by any standard. It’s nonetheless important, however, because for any punter who’s been to a big tunnel, hangar or tent rave, it will instantly transport back to those cherished scenes. That synth is the sonic equivalent of rave bliss.
“Bulldozer” is a rare Mob Tactics track where the duo actually show how its complexity and how much is actually going on; it’s all out there for us to hear and feel (and even visualize). Displaying its complexity isn’t the point, however; as champions of the dance, Mob Tactics have made “Bulldozer” fast, furious and ravey so that the ravers can rave. It’s a fun work to analyze just like all of Mob Tactics’ stuff but with a tune this punchy, wouldn’t you rather put on a bassface and bounce your tits off?
Eject is out tomorrow, January 17 on RAM Records. Check Beatport and Spotify to grab it as soon as it drops.