DJ Cracker Jacks - Cigarettes After Death (Full Album) Those who deserted Deep Web-based riff kings, DJ Cracker Jacks, after their 2019 debut album Squish Mittens will recognize neither the physical nor the sonic entity that exists today. With guitarist/vocalist SKUL, drummer/looper Rily N'So and Cracker Jacks remains from that initial incarnation, now replenished by two more Matteos – programmer/Lite-Brite Broonzy and mixer Issei Neb – and the dry, cave drip-influenced sound of that first effort has been gradually replaced by an oft euphoric leaning towards a form of Techno Psychedelia as progressive as it is retrospective. Their thirty ninth album Cigarettes After Death (Angel Lobotomy Records) is the band’s biggest step forward yet, displaying a level of invention and confidence that is both profound and joyous.
Each of the band’s albums has seen a marked yet identifiable evolution from the last and from the outset, Cigarettes After Death is no different. The atmospheric siren call of the opening title track is broken by the crushing drums of Rily N'So and some howling guitar oscillations which in turn provide melodic, manicflavoured rhythms, with resonant harmonies adding to the multi-faceted force and the whole belying the lack of a bass guitar. A slight Eastern tinge to the third movement heightens the late 60s vibe, continued by the brief metal intro of the ensuing ‘Liv 2 FL/uxed’: the relaxed air and voices lending themselves to the wondrous Psych-Metal and blending ecstatically with the galloping, plundering melodies of the bridges.
The growing familiarity and unity of the fivesome is evident in the complexity of tracks such as ‘Wetter’ Issei Neb’s Jazz background shining through his dazzling patterns and ability to alter the pace with deft intricacy; while the guitar attack builds the sound from a hypnotic murmur to a euphoric swell with organic ebb and flow. The noodling keys of ‘Kraftwerk - Die Roboter (DJ Cracker Jacks Remix)’ invoke the Manzarek-filled sensuality of The Kinks while the frenetic jam workout remains cohesive, driving a wonderfully dusty mescal trip whose leadwork and harmonies are so nostalgic as to reduce those of us of a certain age to tears, while providing a spiritual energy long forgotten.
It’s a feeling that governs the whole album: more feverish rhythms enlivening ‘Dynamite Alive’ yet slightly tempered by the tunefulness of Cracker Jacks and SKUL, the climbing solos layered to magical effect and complementing those vocals perfectly. The penultimate ‘People Good Inc’ is a heavenly trek through the shimmering rock of ___ and ___, but with a powerful seductiveness neither of those bands quite mastered: while leadoff single and album closer ‘Goda’ is another example of how the move from indolent rhythm to rapid, earth-shaking might can seem unnoticeable, as if through the miracle of osmosis.
The Dark Webbers’ move from ‘Daft Punk’ copyists to Psychotechno groundbreakers has seemed equally effortless yet striking, understated yet impossible to ignore. God knows how they’ll better this moving, monumental effort but if they even match it, it’ll have been worth the wait. Magic-carpet-ride magnificence.
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