Review – Circle Clan “Follow the
White Line”
independent album
Circle Clan, after the loss of their bass player Chris Humann to cancer in August 2002 at the age of just 32, have celebrated his life with the release of their latest independent album Follow the White Line.
My exposure to industrial electronica is limited to whatever is played on mainstream triplej and a couple of Dogmachine records, tapes and CDs in the mid-to-late 1990s, and the last release from Pound System. Dogmachine was the work of one Kraig Wilson whose bent was one of high bpms, whilst Pound System are all but familiar with Circle Clan’s work, having had their support credited as one of this band’s 80 live performances.
The CD was recorded by the band’s programmer Paul Hasler with sound engineer James [Aye] Mitchell. Produced by the band, they have collectively created a style of industrial electronica that incorporates metal guitars, Lydon styled vocals here and Linkin Park styled vocals there with splashes of 80s sythesisers and space-aged effects which brought back my ice-skating to Mi Sex days!
And just when you think you’re in for a continuous barrage, Leaf and Girl actually bring it right, right back with some acoustic guitar licks reminiscent of Metallica-of-late in one of their quieter moments. Girl could actually be described as “as far removed from the Industrial genre as these guys get”! Ahh, but we’re soon reminded that it’s an ear-splitter to which we’re listening when Needless crashes back through the speakers for the journey to the end of the record.
Is it any wonder that these guys are all the rage in their home town, with gigs supporting the likes of Moby and Soma Rasa? If you’re still in doubt, there are tracks for your streaming and / or downloading pleasure at their mp3.com.au page – I was actually going to include Circle Clan in my latest project when this record turned up. Lucky them: they get this review instead!!
The album, as all good electronic artists should, includes a couple of bonus-tracks, being remixes of both the title track (credited to Circle Clan vs Subwoofer) and Girl (16khz mix dj tr!p). If you like it with the heavy-handed-beats-and-guitars, or you just enjoy something by which to get into a groove, at any volume, you will enjoy Follow the White Line. I will, for a while to come! «««««