Simian Mobile Disco – ‘It’s the Beat’ (Wichita) Release Date: 26/03/07

The sheer mention of mobile disco is enough to make Gigwise panic. Horrid thoughts quickly spring to mind of the type of entertainer hired to appear at wedding receptions and office parties, unleashing a non stop barrage of God awful crap. Thankfully, production and re-mix duo Simian Mobile Disco are far more chic and cooler than that.  This, the lead single off their forthcoming debut album is an example of their mashed up fusion of electro, dance and the odd bit of rock.

Like a persistent headache, 'It’s the Beat' gnaws away at you until you succumb. Its stop start rhythms, constant bleeps and cutting, snappy guest vocals from the Go Team’s Ninja (whose band were re-mixed in the past by Simian Mobile Disco) all combine to produce a repetitive, yet hook driven and addictive track. It isn’t going to set the world on fire but it’s pleasing enough, nagging away in your mind nicely. The accompanying b-sides of the track’s album version and dub version are fairly uninteresting but the shorter edit does pack a punch, though merely a light jab and not a knock out swing.