Radio 4: Electrify : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Radio 4's Electrify EP remixes tracks from the European release of the Brooklyn band's last effort, Gotham!, including five versions of "Dance to the Underground" as well as mixes of "Struggle" and "Start a Fire." It's an appetizer to their upcoming full-length, and it proves that the band has almost completed the transition from frantic post-punk to pioneering nu-disco. The straight version of "Dance to the Underground" does little to dispel the association with wound-up Seventies agitators Gang of Four. But the remix makeovers serve to remind us that the danceable love-letter to New York City that was Gotham! has been a turning-point in underground aesthetics, as reborn electro has become a major force. On DFA's version of "Dance," producers Tim Goldsworthy and James Murphy descend into a colorful faux-horns versus faux-strings jam in a lengthy house-y reworking. Adrian Sherwood and Mark Stewart's mix of "Struggle" is a more chaotic, dub-influenced work, recalling mid-period Public Image Limited. Not a bad reference, considering Radio 4 are named for a PIL tune. But Electrify does more than pay homage to cult heroes; it solidifies the band as part of new school, disco-punk sound.

JOHN DUGAN
(September 9, 2003)