Hadouken!: Music For An Accelerated Culture

Messages of doom are often mistaken for something else. Just ask the kid who thought "The End Is Nigh" was meant to be racist. When Hadouken! proclaim "We are the wasted youth, and we are the future.", it's meant to be a call to arms, instead it's every so slightly scary.

Born out of the MySpace realm, the rave/dance-rock contingent are an enigma parallel to The Darkness. Some proclaim them as an elaborate mickey-take, designed to mock the culture to which they appeal, others intimate them to be the saviours of rock music, seeking to infuse energy and relevance to the music scene. Regardless of viewpoint, everyone's still listening to the same songs.

Unique is one word which can easily be thrown the band's way. Mixing grime with new rave and dance-punk, the five-piece offer up pulsating rhythms, propelled by breakneck rap delivery and beats the size of the average credit card statement. On occasion too, like on tracks such as "Declaration of War" and "Driving Nowhere", they take it down a notch, providing brief respites for the backlight of the audiences mobile phone to be activated in the air.

Refreshing also is the humourous observations that populate their lyrics "I went to a gig but nobody danced / Everybody was far too cool / all the kiddies they just stood there / Is it the same at their public school?" and "That girl's an Indie Cindy / Lego haircut and polka-dot dress / I don't care if she thinks she's indie / how she's different is anyone's guess." provide a few chuckles.

The music that Hadouken! produce just isn't as revolutionary as they think it is. They proclaim that they are the future of music when bands such as Atari Teenage Riot were experimenting with mixes of pop sensibilities, underground dance music and rock orientated delivery over a decade ago. Also whilst the deepest Hadouken! go, is dealing with mounting personal debt, ATR took on subjects such as police brutality, government suppression, corruption of the media, racial unity and calls for generational revolution.

True, Hadouken! are just out for a good time it seems, but the doubts about their motivations remain. Either they're attempting to infiltrate Chav culture and plant seeds of intellect, or they are Chav culture with delusions of adequacy. Those who just care about the beats will likely find much to love in "Music For An Accelerated Culture", the tunes come thick and fast with a moderate amount of variety and musical competence. Those truly looking for the music of the future should look elsewhere, for the path this album begins is a scary one.

Imagine a world where the number one television show is entitled "Ow, My Balls!", a world where the number one movie is entitled "Ass" and features ninety minutes of the same naked bottom farting in your general direction. In this world Hadouken! would likely find critical acclaim. Whether you consider that a good thing, we'll leave entirely up to you.