It's been a while since Mark Bell and Gez Varley have propelled an LFO release onto their unsuspecting public. In that time dance music has gone through several seismic changes.
When Bell and Varley started-out, Warp records was a new start-up, Warehouse parties and raves were regular forms of Saturday night entertainment, dance compilations came in the form of bootleg mix-tapes and the Hacienda was the only venue that had superclub status.
Change, however, is not a thing that can be levelled at LFO, even if Varley is no longer part of the act.
In Bell's brutal Northern take on techno, the bleeps have stayed as remorselessly hard as ever and the beats, when they attack, can be venomous.
LFO's gift is an ability to strip Detroit's electronic music of its soul, punishing any soft southern edges with a brutal attack of noise, while still managing moments of subtlety and consistently adventurous beat programming.
Despite all protestations to the contrary, LFO do have quiet moments.
Hence on the single, 'Freak', we are treated to an electronic barrage of sounds that is strangely melodic.
The album opens with the practically ambient 'Blown', explodes into the noise-mentalism of 'Mum-Man', takes in a dose of bionic bosa-nova with 'Mokeylips', fires-up again with 'Snot' (would you would wouldn't you) and settles back again on 'Moistly'.
This pretty much sets the pattern for the rest of the album, as 'Sleepy Chicken' sets things up for the assault of 'Freak', which gives way to the clanger like entrance of 'Mummy I've Had An Accident', a full on drill 'n' bass track that's followed by relatively pastoral 'Nevertheless'.
And as a formula it's pretty winning, if not always making for comfortable listening.
'Sheath' is undoubtedly old school, but thanks to a canny sense of timing, it's also incredibly of the moment.
LFO are back and that means it's time to go forward.
