X Marks Destination

The Whip

Southern Fried

2008-03-24

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• (Member — 0 votes)

Having toured relentlessly, The Whip have amassed a following who will know their songs inside out from the live performances ranging from indie dance nights to electro-rave parties. Their raw, energetic tempo and inventive but subtle differences to the tunes found on the album means the recorded counterparts don’t have the same spark and tend to be get you bopping away but go on for too long — with some at six or seven minutes long, their ideas are stretched very thinly.

There are only moments The Whip do get the indie-dance fusion spot on.

A perfect example is mid-album instrumental “Divebomb”. The track has a fine initial electronic hook that layers on various beats and sounds culminating in acid samples. It is an attractively well-produced tune that has limited appeal because it verges on 10 minutes. Each new texture to the track pushes it forward, however this tends to come just after a 45 second section at which point you might switch off. On the majority of the tracks such as “Blackout” or “Sirens” the vocals retain a lot of the interest, yet on the one track they would be most beneficial to the whole they are sorely lacking — this flaw is made worse by “Divebomb” being the most musically fun offering on this first release.

There are only moments when The Whip do get the indie-dance fusion spot on. “Sister Siam” echoes LCD Soundsystem’s sense of fun and “Muzzle #1” lets their indie side shine. However, too often their talents are left underused on the recordings. Live favourite “Trash” doesn’t have anywhere near the same suggestion of enthusiasm as when they send it out for a live audience, instead becoming a pale imitation of what they are capable of producing in a more demanding environment. X Marks Destination has all the hallmarks of a band on the cusp of something more, they just need to work out how best to capture what works so well on stage on a CD if they want to find a wider audience than those already in the know about their live shows.