- See all the Ratings
- Add my Rating now
- Vinyl
(Virgin/EMI)
Side A1: The Boxer (4.11)
Side A2: Swiper (6.03)
Side B: The Boxer (DFA version) (8.52)
With the Chemical Brothers enjoying a second wind of sorts lately, this third single to be lifted from their recent fifth album ‘Push The Button’ shows Tom and Ed reuniting in the studio with Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess, who also provided vocals for their ‘Life Is Sweet’ 12”, released way back in 1993.
While Burgess’ muddy treated vocals on ‘Life Is Sweet’ captured his style at a point where his band were still emerging from the ‘baggy’ fallout typified by the Stone Roses’ Ian Brown and his ‘yell into a bucket’ style delivery, in the intervening years, he’s discovered his falsetto soul (a significant transition captured on The Charlatans’ turning point 2001 album ‘Wonderland’, and one no doubt aided by Burgess’ move to L.A.). ‘The Boxer’ showcases this renewed soul vigour, with Burgess’ powerful belted soul vocals taking centre place on a track that ventures far closer to being a ‘conventional’ pop song than many of the Brother’s previous vocal collaborative singles.
With a stuttering cut-up melodic piano intro conjuring up images of jangly Balearic house rapidly giving way to fat live bass grooves and hiphop-centric downbeat breaks and cowbells, in its original mix version, ‘The Boxer’ calls to mind most closely Happy Mondays or perhaps even the Lo-Fidelity Allstars, an intangible scally vibe creeping through Burgess’ vocal delivery. The version of ‘The Boxer’ marked as being the ‘original’ also differs slightly from the one included on the album, in the sense that there’s some extra use of trademark Chems swooping FX, mammoth explosions and the breakdowns towards the end of the track have been altered slightly.
Previously-unreleased B-side ‘Swiper’ meanwhile treads far closely to the sort of evil acid techno mayhem that the Brothers have traditionally reserved for their ongoing ‘Electronic Battle Weapon’ series, furious volleys of steel percussion ricocheting back and forth between the speakers as relentless hammering techno rhythms and undulating bass power their way beneath and the occasional Michael Jackson-esque MC whoop tumbles forth – definitely not one for the fainthearted and easily my pick of the three tracks on offer here. The DFA’s reworking of ‘The Boxer’ on the other hand turns out to be a bit of a curveball from Murphy & Goldsworthy, stepping away from the NYC duo’s punk-funk approach and layering warm funky soul guitar riffs and psychedelic-sounding Moogs over a downtempo backing of metronomic-sounding live drums that conjures up images of Neu!’s gliding krautrock- while it’s certainly a intriguing reworking (and you’ll scarcely recognise the original track in there), it does get slightly repetitious over its full nine minutes.
A strong 12” package from the Chemical Brothers that ventures slightly closer to radio-friendly pop than the previous two singles released off their current album – ‘Swiper’ is the real track to chase here, if you’re up for some fierce ‘Electronic Battle Weapon’-style action.
