T.W.A.T. - Working Class Love

There's probably nothing manlier in the world than Old School EBM, therefore you expect it to be a strong smell of oil, blood and testosterone. Is this official debut EP from T.W.A.T. all that or is it simply a whiff of Old Spice?

Yes, there are some things that T.W.A.T. absolutely does right. I can somewhat sense the same aggressiveness and energy that Ionic Vision had back in their days with their 'Homo Sovieticus' from 1999. However, while I was listening to that release over and over again for days straight, I'm not quite sure that T.W.A.T.'s 'Working Class Love' will make it to the top of my Last.fm list.

It's hard to make something fresh in this minimalistic genre, but by having female vocals included (been done, but much more rarely), you get yet another dimension. Sometimes the female vocals might seem to be a bit drone compared to the much more aggressive male vocals. When there's space enough, like the more or less female only track "United", you get a much wider spectra and I hope that T.W.A.T. will continue to work and most of all give room to the female vocals, because that surely could create something special.

On this three song EP (total of six tracks including the remixes) you get Oi! inspired Old School with a few surprises up its sleeve, like earlier mentioned "United". "Working Class" is a good enough track, but to be honest I prefer the B-side "Lovesong" with a much more varied melody and better use of the two faced vocals. I?m not so sure about the ambient like "Texas Riot Mix" of "Working Class", as it seems way out of place and remove some of the earlier earned pace.

This EP is my warm-up for their full-length 'Blood, Sweat and Teargas' that I hope will not be yet another Old School album that will be forgotten and buried with the sand of time. However, they manage to give themselves a head start with this EP, if not simply by the amazing cover art. Jun 20 2011