Kid606: Pretty Girls Make Raves
Tigerbeat6

I guess Kid606 felt a Booty Bass set of party bangers was needed after last year's well-behaved Resilience—certainly including BPMs alongside Pretty Girls Make Raves' eight tracks offers some hint of the music's agenda. The new disc purportedly signifies a pivotal step in Miguel Depedro's development, it being the first Kid606 release to include vocals, but in truth the step is a relatively minor one, especially when the singing often amounts to strangulated shouts and distorted chants. In fact, you're more likely to notice the jacking tunes' squealing synths, throbbing bass, and roaring breaks than the barking choruses. Pretty Girls Make Raves aspires to be nothing more than a fun party album and succeeds well enough in that regard. There's no denying that frenetic ravers like “T.Y.T.R.,” “Boomin',” and “Comeuppance” rock, while the especially potent “Chickenfight” uproariously struts and stomps for an acidy eight minutes. But as decent as the collection is, it's also the kind of material one presumes the Venezuela-born and California-raised producer can do in his sleep by now, and one longs to hear him channel his considerable talents into creating something on an innovative par with P.S. I Love You.

August 2006