Alter der Ruine- Giants from Far Away

ARTIST: Alter der Ruine

ALBUM: Giants from Far Away

LABEL: Crunch Pod

REVIEWER: Matthew J.

DATE: 8-30-09

The Arizona noise outfit is at it again, and fans of fellow Crunch Pod act Caustic are sure to appreciate their latest release of slamming club beats and irreverent humor. With track titles like "Fat Pony" and "Stuffin' the Jellyroll Muffin," it's abundantly clear that this isn't the sort of humorless, over-intellectualized experimentation some people have associated with power noise, but the straight-up dance floor fun and bad attitude that Noisex's Raoul Rotation was thinking of when he first titled the genre. "Loserstreet" dispenses with formalities and goes right for the booty with its deadpan samples and funky techno beat, while "Dark Cheats" is choppier, its samples spewed through a wood-chipper, but still clean enough to move bodies on the floor. "Relax and Ride It" is a midtempo bass groove built around the phrase "mustache ride," a sort of inside joke between the band and Caustic's Matt Fanale, who released a similar song on his album Booze Up and Riot,"Get Off My Gems (Mother Money)" sees Alter Der Ruine indulging their love of samples, with the distorted bass kick taking backseat to a cacophony of samples ranging from gangster movie clips to ringing telephones. Similarly, "Perfect Date" is built around a sample from avant-garde comedy trio Stella. If you're looking for something serious, heady or conceptual, you'll be better off skipping this and going after This Morn' Omina or Mlada-Fronta's back catalog, but if you want some power noise club jams that are funny, funky, and just plain fun, this is the album you've been looking for.

Visit the band online at www.ruine-process.com.