fri 06/12/2024

Album: Bad Boy Chiller Crew - Influential | reviews, news & interviews

Album: Bad Boy Chiller Crew - Influential

Album: Bad Boy Chiller Crew - Influential

Self-made Bradford bassline house mavericks come unstuck

The target audience

Bradford unit Bad Boy Chiller Crew blew up from a regional scene which combined jokey lo-fi videos, a bangin’ fusion of UK garage and hard house (“bassline house” as they termed it), and grime-style rapping in local accents.

Boasting parochial slang, tongue-in-cheek self-awareness, and a defiantly working class attitude, they were a breath of fresh air. Their vibe was redolent of acts such as Kurupt FM, Die Antwoord and Goldie Looking Chain. They were a blast. Live, they likely still are, but their new album sees them jump the shark.

For one thing, it’s 21 tracks long where, as every artist from The Ramones to 100 gecs has demonstrated, mad-arse music such as this is best served in short punchy doses. Their three previous albums, the last one reaching No.2 in the album charts, have seen them slowly move on from their crude early sound but Influential tumbles into outright cheese. Too many tracks have keyboard motifs that directly recall overplayed Nineties pop-dance classic “Show Me Love” (by Robin S), and the songs built on Cher’s Benidorm gorgonzola staple “Believe” and much-ripped-off one hit wonder “Spaceman” by Babylon Zoo are mining territory already bled absolutely dry. Meanwhile, "Skank All Night" even has a terrace-chanted "You what!? You what!?" as the chorus, which is never lovable.

There are still a good few manic pub-dust jump-around bangers, emanating righteous cheek and raw energy, the likes of “Sliding and Vibing”, “Jürgen Kropper” and “George Best” (from the latter: “I get a limousine with a chauffeur/Driver took me to a titty show bar/Grab a couple of dances, drink tequila/Then I take ‘em in the limo for Coca Cola”). But the hammering 4/4 surface level catalogue of gags, good times, naughties, cars and girls quickly wears thin.

Mind you, like happy hardcore and many similar scenes before it, this music is aimed at 14-year-olds, laughing it up in school playgrounds in the north of England, throwing gun fingers about, aspiring to grown-up rave kicks. It’s not for ancient music journalists. But that still doesn’t make it any good.

Below: Watch the video for “Jürgen Kropper” by Bad Boy Chiller Crew

 

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters