Young Hustlers – Encaged MC Skuggsidan 2016
Young Hustlers are a new Swedish power electronics project who have just issued their debut cassette ‘Encaged’ – a single sided release, limited to a mere 100 units. With the image on the cover then revealing two balaclava clad individuals (…one wielding a spiked baseball bat and the other wielding a cigarette with serious attitude), there should be no illusions of what to expect. But if you do need a hint, Young Hustlers have effectively armed themselves with an approach which is a ‘direct channeling’ of traditional power electronics comparable to the likes of the Grey Wolves, Survival Unit, early Genocide Organ etc.
Prior to this cassette, the group immediately caught my attention with their debut track ‘On The Bloody Fields’, which was released online in August, 2105 (…although it did come to my attention until around March, 2016). That track is also featured here as the opening cut, being a simple but oh so effective piece of shuddering synth loops, buzzing static and distant but heavily ‘wet’ processed vocals. The second piece ‘Police Bastard’ is equally powerful (…if not more forceful), with its central ‘wailing alarm’ rhythmic element and elevated upfront vocals (…and with good reason these first two tracks would have constituted a pretty much perfect double a sided power electronics 7’ep). With its sound firmly established via the first 2 tracks, the remaining 4 tracks do not deviate hugely from the chosen path, relying on combinations of simple but direct, analog derived, shuddering machine rhythms, layered crumbling distortion and the obligatory flange processed and antagonistically delivered vocals (…one selected track includes a classical music sample for slight variation). To then reference the final track ‘Scene Cleaners’, it manages to reach the same peaks as the opening two and involves a ferocious attack of dive-bombing oscillations, heady distortion and yet another turgid vocal barrage.
With 3 top notch tracks and 3 other decent (…if perhaps more typical) tracks, all in all ‘Encaged’ proves to be a strong debut and will be of clear interest to see how the project evolves from here.
noise receptor 