Very Big In America

The first and only album by Voice of Authority is another of the On-U catalog's unsung gems, the abrasive union of Kishi Yamamoto, Nick Plytas, Mark Stewart, Charlie Eskimo Fox, Evar, and Ernest Wellington (among others) that marked Adrian Sherwood's continued drift away from the straightforward dub styling of his earlier work. Indeed, much of Very Big in America Right Now! echoes the remix projects that he was undertaking for the likes of Depeche Mode at the time -- and given that they were, indeed, very big in America right then, the comparison might well have been deliberate. Distortion, bizarre samples, and unexpected rhythmic convolutions are the order of the day, in an album that can rarely be played simply for straightforward enjoyment. Rather, it hangs out on that precipice where industrial music took its first gallant steps, and if the ghosts of melodies and hooks do percolate beneath the chaos (the keyboard riff that underpins "Knock the House Down" is almost catchy!), they are quickly chased away again. For all that, Very Big in America Right Now! is an exhilarating listen, and certainly points your ears toward subsequent developments on the On-U scene. The rest of the world would follow in due course.