Dr Octagon has returned and from his song titles it may well be from the nuthouse. ‘A Gorilla Driving A Pickup Truck’ indicates Dr Octagon is a few bananas short of a bunch but he knows how to lay down an upbeat tempo to his return record. He’s probably most famous in the UK for lending the vocals to the Prodigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ and having as many aliases as the Artist formerly known as Prince but his slightly odd outlook makes for some effective music. Be warned however it’s advisable to soundproof your ears for some pounding bass and open your mind before you enter this record.
‘Trees’, ‘Aliens’ and ‘Ants’ are a powerful introduction to the variety on show. The first is a rock-dance crossover while the second is a slow synth and keyboard led scratch-fest. Just as you’re trying to work the music out ‘Ants’ is a mix of cuts with funky bass and strings in the background. Everything is so big by this stage – the sounds, the vocals and most of all the themes – there’s no doubting this is off the wall but also enjoyable at the same time.
This album isn’t wanting for maintaining the energy but it becomes a little samey towards the end before the excellent ‘Eat It’ finishes matters off. The trio of ‘Dr Octagon’, ‘It’s The Morning’ and ‘Jumpstart’ are all deep, down, dirty, funk tracks with a good mix of spiky electronics and scratching but they all feel a little uninspired in the face of the oddness of the rest of the album. The aforementioned ‘A Gorilla Driving A Pickup Truck’ is a track straight out of Texas with harmonicas and banjos. Unfortunately it is literally a tale of a gorilla driving a pickup truck and to quote a little: “bananas under my wheels, riding down the Texas hills”. You can see why you should open your mind now…
If nothing else Dr Octagon grabs your attention with an album of occasional excellence and regular eccentricity. The themes and music are all over the place but it’s an upbeat mix of styles with the occasional crazy skit involving turtles and uteruses thrown in to convince you, if you weren’t already, that this is not your average hip hop album.
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