The Brothers Want It Their Way

Now that Fatboy Slim songs can be heard every-where--in movie trailers, in commercials--the invasion of America by the big beat sound seems complete, even if record companies still insist on referring to it as "electronica." It would have been easy for its inventors to once again mix up rock sounds and dance beats and recreate their success. The Chemical Brothers' (a.k.a. Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons) third full album, however, moves away from the through-the-roof lager madness of Dig Your Own Hole to a more house-based sound, one that's perhaps less accessible than their earlier rocktinged efforts. In a way, it's a roots album for the Chemicals, recalling the influences of Kraftwerk and early-'80s electro (most evident in the title track) and showcasing a definite European sound.

"Hey Boy Hey Girl," the first single, illustrates this move away from any concessions to rock. With its overtly synthesizer- and sample-based sound and relative lack of lyrics, it's not a song that will necessarily appeal to a crossover audience. By choosing it as their lead single, the Chemical Brothers are perhaps making a conscious commitment to doing it on their own terms. Certainly Surrender has other songs more immediately appealing to the casual listener. But "Hey Boy Hey Girl" is an out-and-out dance song, with an eminently catchy hook ("Hey Boy/Hey Girl/Superstar DJs/Here We Go") that launches the song into party mode (and provides a shout along lyric that will guarantee inclusion in DJ sets).

Despite the addictive four-on-the-floor quality of the single, however, Surrender is not especially focused on partying but on extending the scope of sounds. For example, "The Sunshine Underground," the album's halfway point, anchors the album with eight minutes of instrumental music, moving from an Indian-tinged opening to an insistent, psychedelic loop. The album closes with "Dream On" (featuring Jonathan Donahue of college radio favorites Mercury Rev), an impossibly beautiful song that begins with delicate guitar strumming before soaring into its synthesizer refrain: the perfect comedown after too many electric highs.

The Chemical Brothers have always been good at bringing out the best in others, as their earlier remixes of the Manic Street Preachers and Spritualized prove. Surrender sees the Chemicals working with even more guest vocalists--this time to bring out the best in the Chemicals' sound. Two fellow Mancunians pop up on the album: New Order's Bernard Sumner and Oasis' Noel Gallagher. Gallagher has worked with the duo before, but it's "Out of Control," the piece with Sumner, that's most memorable. Sumner's work certainly was another one of the Chemicals' influences, and to hear his familiar voice, his usual quasi-cryptic lyrics and a quintessential New Order guitar break over the loping hypnotic beat the Chemicals supply is one of the album's many high points.

They don't sing, and they're not instrumental virtuosos either. Yet it's clear that the Chemical Brothers have made one of the finest albums this year, pushing their creativity to the limits, showing that they can do more than make you jump. The pounding French-house-style opening track, "Music: Response" has as its main refrain an electronic voice proclaiming that "music should trigger some kind of response," and elicit a response this album certainly will. In its most manic parts, it can (and will) send dance-floors through the roof, but the sheer sonic range of the album counters the usual line that dance artists can't make full-length albums. This is dance music that never compromises, that never gives in--that never surrenders.