We R The Aliens Land Their Third EP, Featuring Katie Drover and Just Jack
Listen to our exclusive premiere of ‘Lollipop’ by Katie Drover and read our full review of the record
WRTA 003 EP Cover
Unidentified martian species ‘We R The Aliens’ visit earth for a third time bringing their third record on files so far. After the deliverance of the debut from the Mothership project and a VA last year showcasing production from various studio masterminds from Markus Sommer to Chklte and Jakob Seidensticker, this year the label brings you a split record combining the forces of two of Melbourne’s finest producers Just Jack and Katie Drover.
The ‘Twisties / Lollipop’ split features three tracks by each of the two, with Just Jack delivering on the A-side and Kati taking care of the B. Just Jack’s input mostly revolves around fine and upbeat underground tech-house grooves, starting off with ‘Twisties’ hypnotic beat and lysergic touch to its scattered, processed vocals sounding like a point of contact from another dimension - a perfect after-hour vibe. The A2 ‘Ergust Discovers Computer Music’ goes in full brain-massage mode by playing on percussions and softly layered synths for an even more psychedelic result. Also we would really like to know the story behind the name of this track, perhaps one day we can ask Just Jack directly.
Just Jack’s tracks here also don’t shy away from faster tempos in general, with the A3 ‘Poast Pfil’ reaching a pumping 132 bpm beat - perhaps our favourite from the A-side, this track feels like it would bring a pure tornado on any dancefloor. We hope we can feel its effect on a huge sound-system very soon! And this is very much valid for the B-side also, starting from the B1 opener ‘Lollypop’ by Katie Drover which we are happy to premiere below in full, the sound design is fully rounded and easily project the listener’s mind into a club setting with tastefully layered rhythmic elements and a catchy bass guiding the groove. But what we like the most about this track is probably the dreamy synth pad intermittently chaperoning the main track structure with a clever arrangements.
The rest of Katie’s output switches styles by introducing heavier broken rhythm parts into the record. Firstly, with ‘Make Up’ we get a psychic electro landscape made of a deep pads and heavy kick-snare-shaker patterns combination, then with the closing track ‘Paw Paw Master’, a fast and blissful track experimenting on the drum and bass aesthetics and tempos which Katie’s got her fans familiar with in some of her recent sets already. Expect amen breaks, sub-frequencies, and LTJ Bukem-styled synth works. One thing for sure, if all drum and bass new releases would sound like this it would make it much more interesting to stay tuned to the genre.
