Sneaker Pimps Album: “Becoming X”

Long before Zero 7 and Air shook up urban CD stores with their downtempo chill, the Sneaker Pimps released "Becoming X." Unlike Zero 7 and Air, however, the Sneaker Pimps were far closer to rock than ambience. In fact, the Sneaker Pimps were part of the same 1990s British Invasion that brought us Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Radiohead and the like. "Becoming X" was a promising debut for a band that, unfortunately, never went on to better things.

Unlike most trip hop, which uses largely anonymous female vocalists, the Sneaker Pimps boasted a charismatic and photogenic lead singer in Kelli Dayton. On the best songs on this CD, Dayton shifts through several moods - edgy one moment, playful the next, weary a moment after, and eager the moment after that. Dayton is so playful that unless you listen closely, you won't realise that much of the material here uses standard rock song structures. According to the credits, she didn't write a single word of the lyrics, but there's no denying that her unique voice soars above the exotic flute samples and drumloops that make up the usual instrumental backing here.

"Wasted Early Sunday Morning," "Post-Modern Sleaze," "Tesko Suicide," and the single "Six Underground" are the best songs here. Elsewhere, I found myself wanting more variety, both in tempos and in choices of backing instrumentation.

This is Dayton's only CD with the band. She's since changed her name to Kelli Ali and released two CDs that generally take her into tougher rock and electronica territory. I recommend "Psychic Cat" which is now available as a domestic release in the US. The rest of the Pimps, as mentioned earlier, never surpassed "Becoming X," but if you're addicted to the sound of this CD you'll probably enjoy parts of their later CDs as well.

OK, I actually STILL play this CD all the way thru. It's a sonic blast, a must have. HAD to repo it from an ex.

It's too bad the insecure "boys" of the band got jealous and decided to dump Kelli (singer) after this album. They also dumped their electronica/pseudo trip-hop sound and went more guitar oriented (boring) after this. BTW, Roni Sarig's review of this album is ridiculous. They sound NOTHING like Luscious Jackson. This is in my Top 100 Albums. Sample some songs, then buy it.

I've had this cd and the remix edition in my cd collection for about 8 years now. I've always been a fan of trip hop and found the Sneaker Pimps to be a group that certainly secured their niche with this album. too bad it was a one time shot (their second album falls short of their debut, mainly with the loss of their lead vocalist). But after a James Bond marathon this weekend, I noticed something about the track "6 Underground" that in my 8 years of listening had never noticed before. The main source of this track comes from the Goldfinger Soundtrack (you can hear it when James Bond finds Jill Masterson covered in gold). I always knew there was something drawing me into that song but that diffently made me understand why. Which is another reason why I've grown to love British trip hop over American. The Brits really research and find classic samples that the listener may not recognize but will fully enjoy.

love the pimps! got this CD about two months ago, and it's rare when a day goes by that i don't listen to this gem of a recording. the fifth track was worth the price of the CD alone....the lead singer, dayton, has a sweet, cutting voice, ("she must be a thelma or louise"- track 6) and it perfectly compliments the dark, forboding trip-lounge/ hop music. get this album if you dig portishead, massive attack, tricky even just a smidge...this CD is very intoxicating and you will soon find yourself addicted to the sounds of Becoming X. grab this Sneaker Pimps debut...you will not be sorry.

I got my first taste of the Pimps in a very interesting place - a sex scene in the movie The Saint. I enjoyed the tune and the beat of Six Underground, and knew right away that this was the kind of music that I had been dreaming up. After discovering the artist and listening to the other tracks (my personal favorites being Becoming X, Spin Spin Sugar, and Walking Zero), I fell in love with the rest of the CD and bought all of the other Sneaker Pimps albums. I could go on about Kelli Dayton's haunting whisper, the quality of the songwriting, the sexy and slow percussion beats, but all the other reviewers have already done so for me. Becoming X introduced me to a lost and, in my opinion, severely underrated genre abandoned after the turn of the century: trip-hop.

If you enjoyed Becoming X I recommend Portishead, Massive Attack, and Emiliana Torrini