MSTRKRFT - Fist Of God

There’s plenty of gloss and guest stars all over the new MSTRKRFT record ‘Fist Of God’, and while that might be enough to grab listeners attention initially, there is little here that is fresh or compelling enough to warrant repeat spins. The beats and rhythms, while sped up to 11 and surely bound to fill some dance floors, just come across as inferior rehashes of the work of artists that simply do it better, namely Daft Punk and Justice. This album simply is filled with far too familiar sounds and tired beats in a genre that is already plagued by lack of radical innovation and groundbreaking material, no matter how many decks, synths and samples they have at their disposal.

The record actually starts out strong, with the guest vocals of Lil’ Mo keeping up with the amped, driving beat of ‘It Ain’t Love’. It’s an original, resounding track that unfortunately represents the high water mark on an album that just gets worse as it goes on. ‘1,000 Cigarettes’ has the fingerprints of Justice all over it, and while the track has an energy and bounce to it, its influences are far too recognisable for the song to have lasting redeemable qualities. Just go listen to ‘Cross’ instead, you’ll be better off. ‘Bounce’ represents the first of many disappointing guest appearances found throughout ‘Fist Of God’, with ‘N.O.R.E.’ delivering cringe-worthy rhymes before busting into a repetitive chorus with Isis that really drags the track down and ultimately makes it seem pretty juvenile. But on a record whose album art features women’s asses and legs formed into a fist, what did you really expect? The song segues nicely into ‘Vuvuvu’, which represents a definite improvement (how could it not), but ultimately it doesn’t really go anywhere productive.

John Legend croons passionately over ‘Heartbreaker’, one of many examples of collaborations that wind up looking better on paper than they sound on the record. It’s a pleasant enough track, but nothing genuinely groundbreaking either. The played out, Journey-like keyboards that are layered throughout the song doesn’t help with the level of originality either. The title track is a repetitive mess that sounds like a Justice b-side that for obvious reasons was never released. It’s a sonic mishmash that ultimately is soulless and unmoving. Both of the appearances of Jahmal from the Carps fail to ignite the tracks in any substantial way, which makes one wonder why he was asked to guest twice. ‘Click Click’ starts out positively enough, with E-40’s boasting over the propulsive beats leading you to believe the track is going to be fire, but unfortunately the Bay Area emcee’s verses never quite match up to the promise and swagger heard at the start of the song. Unfortunately there is little of the exuberance or experimentation of Jesse Keeler’s old group, Death From Above 1979, found on this record, nor the over the top, bombastic production from Al-P, who manned the knobs on DFA’s landmark ‘You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine’. It’s all pretty safe sounding, certainly fitting into the niche of electronic dance and party music, but hardly testing any boundaries or limits of that genre’s sound either.

The album’s biggest eye-catcher is obviously ‘Word Up’, which features Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan. And this also proves to be the album’s biggest disappointment, with Ghost’s verses never really materializing, and his only contributions to the track end up being repeated, mumbled phrases like ‘Word up’ and ‘Do it hard.’ Seems hardly worth the time and effort it must have taken to get him in the studio, and you can’t help but feel slightly cheated as a listener. And that ultimately is the lasting impression of ‘Fist Of God’, a lot of promise and potential, but in the end failing to deliver on many different levels. It all looks good on paper, but fails to flourish on the headphones. Some of these songs might wind up filling the floors in the clubs, but you won’t be able to escape the fact that these sounds have a familiar ring to them. A hollow one.