(Beatservice Records/Creative Vibes)

Norwegian electronic duo Elektrofant (aka Klaus Skrudland and Trond Anfinnsen) hail from the southwestern coastal town of Stavanger, and first made waves with their 2003 debut EP ‘Flipstick’, which introduced their fusion of thick funky analogue synths with breakbeats and occasional rock influences. Hot on the heels of this debut offering comes their first artist album ‘Work’, through Beatservice, a label that appears to be moving into high gear of late, with recent excellent releases from the likes of Howard Maple and Kolar Goi.

From the outset, it’s clear that ‘Work’ captures a clear progression from the groovy breakbeat synthfunk that Elektrofant explored on their EP, while also showing them expanding their musical palette to include more overt pop and R’N’B influences. Opening track ‘Slam Home’ kicks straight down into thick analogue synthfunk grooves riding over a pneumatic backdrop of disco-house snares and kicks, that gradually builds itself into a climactic searing electric guitar solo, serious fretboard skronk sliding alongside thick electro grooves. ‘We Work Hard’ leans back towards icy clicking electro rhythms, with Skrudland’s shouted “We work hard / we work late / we go home / around 8” vocal chorus poking a cheeky tongue at the likes of Kraftwerk that’s nicely balanced by some sweet female R’N’B’ vocals, shortly before a massive Edwyn Collins-esque guitar solo takes things to a blazing conclusion. ‘Gospel Control’ places what sounds like a Malcolm X sample intoning “we must rebuild the family” over streamlined synthetic grooves and crisp beats that venture probably the closest to out-and-out dancefloor breaks out of all the tracks included here, leading into ‘Old People Are Young Too’, which fuses gently plucked acoustic guitar with a swinging backing of broken beats that leans towards bossanova-soul.

‘Talking Is Easy When I Talk With You’ shows Skrudland doing a more than capable job of laying down smooth soul harmonies over a buzzing and skittering synthetic R’N’B backing that leans slightly towards the likes of Funkstorung, before ‘Walter Benjamin’s Aesthetics’ pushes the bpms right back with pumping electroclash-infused beats and thick synths underpinning a cut-up vocal that calls to mind Yello’s classic ‘Bostich’, veering into dark bassy Euro groove towards its end. ‘I Gotta Be Me’ is one of the standout inclusions here, with what sounds like a looped child’s vocal riding over an absolutely huge backdrop of booming bass and clicking electro breakbeats, jazz-inspired synth stabs and fat bass licks slowly giving way to the icy synthetic electro-infused house and orchestral flourishes of ‘The Green Room.’

‘Whatever You Do, It’s Alright’ meanwhile voyages into light sunny acoustic-guitar inflected electro that gives way to Skrudland’s delicate vocal before accelerating into gliding electro-house, leading into ‘Outro’, which provides a perfect curtain-closer for this album, with what sounds like looped ambient sound sourced from a swimming pool spinning spectrally over a tight backdrop of punching electro rhythms and suitably epic-sounding shimmering synth tones.

‘Work’ is a more than worthy debut album from Elektrofant that displays more stylistic cohesion and originality over its ten tracks than many similar records of its type, and also shows Skrudland and Anfinnsen fusing their eclectic musical influences to create a Euro-tinged electrobreaks hybrid that goes down smoothly while also sounding like their very own flavour. ‘Work’ manages to touch on a wide range of different territories without ever quite sounding like Elektrofant are over-extending their abilities, and while some of the pyrokinetic guitar solos might have the less fretboard-inclined running for cover, there’s plenty here to satisfy those who like their funky electro dusted with a stylish yet not too serious Euroclash sheen. Recommended.

Check out: www.beatservice.no