Gus Gus Album: “24/7”

Think Gusgus vs. T-World but slow down the tempo a beat or two, lengthen the tracks to an average of 10 minutes each, and add slow burn vocals with angsty lyrics on top (I fight fire with fire when I'm in this state, If I can't find love then I guess I'll hate).

This is a solid 5 star disc but I gave it 4 stars because it could benefit greatly from one additional track to round out its length. Take Me Now/Bremen Cowboy is actually one song. Take Me Now is the 3 minute vocal half and Bremen Cowboy is the 7 minute instrumental dance half. So really you only get 5 tracks, but 5 really, really good tracks.

I've only been an iffy fan of gusgus (the aforementioned vs. T-World album and This Is Normal being my favorites) but I'm loving 24/7 and seemingly the direction they are heading in with their sound.

More please.

The pop hooks from their earlier work are long gone, as are the more upfront dance sounds found in their last release "Forever". There's still plenty to like about 24/7, but it's mostly minimal and moody. Singles "Add This Song" and "Thin Ice" are by far the standout tracks, but fans of Jimi Tenor will enjoy his contribution on "Take Me Baby".

Gus Gus moves to the Kompakt camp with their latest, 24/7, but if anything, it almost feels like a return to their earliest album, POLYESTERDAY. The extended grooves are back (this time with more minimal techno than trip-hop), but this won't come as a surprise to those who follow Gus Gus' remixing efforts. Indeed, they're much darker here than on any of their earlier efforts: "Hateful" is a deep, funky war song, while "Thin Ice" exhorts people to dance rather dangerously. Daníel Ágúst makes a welcome return as the main vocalist, as well. The extended grooves are a bit too extended, however, seeming to peter out in acid lines and dub effects around the halfway mark. Jimi Tenor's "Take Me Baby" gets a much shorter workout here, but if you consider how it segues into "Bremen Cowboy," it's almost another long track by itself. "Add This Song" continues this tradition: good, but perhaps overly long...