js In the mid 90s when the trip-hop formula had become a cliché pattern of lazy laid-back beats designed for the chill room at the local dance club, Depth Charge charted their own course with a more aggressive and downright nasty sound that borrowed much of its ascetic from Hong Kong gangster movies and hardcore porn soundtracks. These songs have the expected mid-tempo groove of the instrumental hip-hop genre, but the vibe is tense and dangerous, not relaxed and loungey. To further their difference from the pack, Depth Charge had real instrumental skills on funky wah-wah guitar, Hammond B3 and analog synthesizer that gave their songs a gritty rockin flavor.

Its hard to find a comparison for this group’s sound, possibly some early loops by EPMD, the early psychedelic funk-rock of The Funkadelics or Bob Marley’s charging 4 on the floor classic, ‘Exodus’, might give one an idea of this band’s blending of funk groove and rock aggression. In a genre that eventually got buried in cliché, J Saul Kane keeps things interesting with unpredictable breaks and darkly humorous snippets of dialog from crime movies.

Fans of the infamous comedian Blowfly might be interested in knowing that he makes a guest appearance on the cut ‘Sex, Sluts, Heaven’, but he is not always easy to pick out amongst all the other sampled voices. Fans of great synth work might also enjoy the obviously patchable synthesizer they use and its complex sound modulations. This is not your typical instrumental hip-hop record at all; real instrumental skills, streetwise aggression and creative arrangements set this one apart from the sleepy paint-by-numbers trip hop set.

js Depth Charge's musical guiding light, J. Saul Kane, is often credited with being one of the originators of a musical genre that eventually became known as trip-hop. Like many musical genres, trip-hop started off with promising recordings that featured new innovative use of samples and broad free-ranging compositions that challenged the imagination. Over a very short period of time though, the genre fell into cliche, repetitiveness and dull stoner boredom.

This fine EP recalls the earlier more creative days of trip-hop and features enough live keyboard work to keep things jazzy and real. Keyboardist Harry Twinch is the star of the show on this one. He's not really a great soloist laden with technique, but he does have a really cool, very fat sounding analog synthesizer that makes my stereo speakers beg for mercy.

My favorite cut is 'Poison Clan 95' on which Twinch breaks out a very nasty distorted B3 that plays funky riffs on top of a relentless wah-wah guitar riff while Kane provides Hong Kong style gangster film ambiance and automatic gun fire. This is a great EP that recalls the early glory days of a much maligned genre.