Matthew Dear - Backstroke

BACKSTROKE is another album of bizarro-house from Matthew Dear, one of the few who can make bizarro-house work. So even after a minute and a half of noise at the beginning of "Another," we get the track that we'd been waiting for, a digital bit of clickery that doesn't entirely give up the noise. His vocals come the fore in "Tide," but the deep bass hits of "Takes On You" that take you into the horn-like blasts of sound are more distinctive. The wooziness of "Grut Wall" and the dizziness of "Huggy's Parade" help both of those stand out as well. But on some levels, this album isn't as focused as LEAVE LUCK TO HEAVEN. But when you get a track as sleazily disco as "And in the Night," why nitpick?