Nobody Beats The Drum – Beats Work

February 26th, 2008 by JayJay

What is new? According to the dictionary, new means “recently brought into being”. It can also mean “unaccustomed”, as in “They are new to the scene.” The first definitely applies to the Utrecht-based collective Nobody Beats The Drum, but the second doesn’t.

The crossover trio consists of a DeeJay handling the wheels of steel in Zuco 103 (Sjam Sjamsoedin), a VeeJay (yes, a band with a video artist!) that made clips for C-Mon & Kypski (Rogier Van Der Zwaag) and a KeyJay that happens to be in C-Mon & Kypski (Jori Collignon). They won the Grote Prijs van Nederland back in 2003. They have been building on an outstanding live reputation ever since. So what’s new then? It has taken half a decade to make, but it has finally arrived: Beats Work. The band’s debut album should be the final missing piece, the crown on their success so far. Question remains: is it?

Less than a minute into the record we learn that beats indeed work. Fat drums and samples get you out of your chair; it doesn’t matter if you’re a rock or hip-hop fan, you will find something on this record that makes you dance. Every song has been carefully crafted, with a lot of layers and variation in the soundscape throughout the entire album. It will be hard to determine which track should be the next single, as most of them have potential to do well in the clubs.

It is a pity my room is nothing like that dirty basement club downtown, though. The studio versions sound a little too clean at times. The closing tracks of the album show that the real damage should be done on stage. They scream for sampling and have over-the-top live additions like horns and bells written all over themselves. The visuals lack on cd, both from their video artist as well as the live button mashing. Luckily, the obligatory record is finally finished and Nobody Beats The Drum can continue what they’ve been doing best for five years now: perform.
 
 
Banned music video for Quit Your Job and the entire album from MySpace!