As the chorus from Starship’s 1985 “We Built This City” attempts to make its way through what sounds like a tape deck eating the cassingle version of the erstwhile hit, the laws governing simulacra are front and centre, even if the mix isn’t. Starship was of course the 80s reanimation of Jefferson Starship, itself a 70s repackaging of the original Jefferson Airplane. Whether there is any use to me knowing this is a moot point. Bad things come in threes, and Noisepoetnobody (aka Casey Jones) is no stranger to the forces of evil. This City, despite its intentionally parodic opening, is a rough affair, do not be confused. In just short of thirty minutes, Jones pounds hardcore, minimalist electronic beats to the kind of source material one is more likely to find in a dungeon than in what passes for a club these days. Is that the rub, then? The city we built is a shitty tape player giving us garbage that no one ever took seriously, because, well, even the band couldn’t be bothered to?

 

The meta-lingo here might lead some to believe that This City is a post-post-affair, filled with posturing and ciphers of ciphers. No, I am once again in the unenviable position of bestowing critical merit on something, despite all of the lashings my dwindling circle of friends is likely to dole out on me for having done so. Jones is magnificently adept at making me feel uneasy, uncomfortable, squeamish, almost, and if that is not your cup of joe, then This City is probably best left to those of us who wish the festering pool of ambient music would hurry up and turn 27 already and just snuff it. Maybe those musicians who traffick in such niceties get to live a little longer, given the lack of pathos and self-hate. With song titles as miraculously non-literary as “The Parking Garage” and “Crush a Can”, I think it’s safe to assume that Jones is not taking any pilgrimages to the Lakes District anytime soon. Not unless Throbbing Gristle built a secret tape studio in basement of one of those historic cottages.

 

Dark and beat-driven techno enthusiasts will delight in this little gem of a record, as will anyone who woke up on the wrong side of this week, or is very likely to. Highly recommended!