Primitive Technique Album Review

Wellington drum and bass duo The Upbeats have forged a reputation over the past 9 years for their hard hitting, dance inducing tracks and they’ve kept to that winning formula on their latest release, Primitive Technique.

It’s packed full of 14 huge tracks, ranging from the jaunty One Step, to the almost menacing opening track Beyond Reality, with a few mellower tracks thrown in for good measure. It’s those mellower tracks that actually made the album for me – with Again, featuring U.S. MC Armanni Reign, and Alone with Tasha Baxter on vocal duties, providing a nice counter point to the heavier and more club-driven songs; both are slower and a little mellower, particularly Alone, which comes across almost as a ballad.

While the other tracks are well produced, and have that distinctive Upbeats sound, they left me thinking that they’d be better heard in a club, through a big sound system, not through a home stereo. That’s really where the Upbeats skills lie, and a recording doesn’t necessarily do their music justice.

It was still an enjoyable, uplifting and energetic album, with enough to keep it interesting after repeated listens. Fans of drum and bass should definitely check it out; fans of the Upbeats should be lining up to buy it.