- All that old-style Chicago influence going around house music right now is infiltrating lots of other things too. Here it is on Night Slugs, via Jam City's "Aquabox" and "Waterfalls," which open and shut Waterworx with playful authority. "Aquabox" hits hard: Mayday-siren synth, thick toms, violently crashing cymbals. "Waterworx" has more of a jumpy grime feel—overemphasized toms, jaunty, Caribbean-feel keyboards. On both, the bass is sticky and rampant, carving a neat new path for more Night Slugs tracks to drive through. Given how congruous the label's releases have been so far, we'll probably hear more like them, but instead of simply "going house" it brings dubstep's stamp to bear.
The other three tracks are also energetic. "Countess" has some grime in it as well: the drums clank more than snap, the synths shudder more than gleam. They reverse themselves for "Island," where glassy keyboard tones spell dark foreboding, along with huge, droning subs and drums dramatic enough for a Rocky theme, and "Barely a Trak," where a pitch-shifting neon synth stretches over a stop-start groove and occasional cartoon vocal interjections.
Tracklist 01. Aqua Box
02. Countess
03. Island
04. Barely a Trak
05. Waterfalls