at a glance...

Hometown: London/Romford
Year Formed: early 1980's

Members:
Karl Hyde -vocals
Darren Emerson -decks, beats
Rick Smith -instrumentation and stuff

Notes:
Rick Smith and Karl Hyde formed the nucleus of some marginally-successful but best-forgotten white funk groups in the early '80s, and even threatened to embarrass the Underworld moniker with more novelty funking as the new decade approached. Thankfully they hooked up with whizkid DJ Darren Emerson in the early '90s and concentrated their efforts on the music of the British clubs. Dubnobasswithmyheadman was a huge critical success, and with the "Cowgirl"/ "Rez" single taking clubland by storm, Underworld established themselves as major players in British dance music. Yet little prepared them or the world for "Born Slippy," a single re-released after its use in the movie "Trainspotting," which rocketed to number two in the British charts, rendering Underworld unlikely pop stars and virtually overshadowing the otherwise well-received second LP Second Toughest in the Infants. Third album Beaucoup Fish saw them continue to consolidate their position as the world's premiere four-to-the-floor techno band.

Links:
Underworld Photo Gallery

First things first: No, it's not as good as Dubnobasswithmyheadman. And no, you didn't win the lottery today. Other than that, things are looking up.

Beaucoup Fish is a steady step above second LP Second Toughest in the Infants, and while it never scales the more spectacular heights of Underworld's aforementioned debut, this album sounds like a grower, and will likely appear in a lot of Top Ten lists come December.

While there are no radical departures here, much of Beaucoup Fish operates at +8. This is probably less a product of "Born Slippy's" 140 BPM success than Darren Emerson's immersion in the English superclub scene, which is becoming increasingly dominated by the hard and fast sounds of Goa trance.

"Trance?" you ask. "Isn't trance for noxious, Vicks-wielding crusties?" Why yes, it is. But in the right hands -- John Digweed, Leftfield -- it can be fantastic. And Underworld do it better than anyone, slicing through the druggy mist with their hoary old rock sensibilities, wedging bits of song dynamics into barely audible cracks in the groove. First single "Push Upstairs" and "Something Like a Mama" are particularly thrilling rides, seizing momentum from the just-too-fast kick drum and riding until we're all knackered. There are subtle variations on the theme - "Cups" is the sweet jazzy house tune you never thought they'd make -- but it's all got the same rich Underworld flavor. Taste some.