Battles - Juice B Crypts

It’s not always been obvious, but since their inception in 2002, Battles have been on an almighty quest for the funk. Definitive, all-conquering, funk. On ‘Juice B Crypts’, their fourth studio album, they might just have found it. Opener ‘Ambulance’ is business as usual. The track filled with enough chaotic repetition to make Mark E Smith’s belly hurt. It’s Battles-by-numbers, and there’s nothing really wrong with that. However, from this point it’s apparent that something has changed with the group. As you’d expect, there are bleeps and bloops aplenty, but underneath it all is a sexy, if slightly bizarre, groove. This new found funky outlook is no more apparent than on ‘Titanium 2 Step’ & ‘Izm’. The tracks pump along with such swagger that by the time they’re over you can’t help but be a bit disappointed that George Clinton hasn’t popped in to lay down a few lines. The great man once demanded the funk. He’s waited a long time, but finally, with ‘Juice B Crypts’, his call has been answered.