If Héctor Oaks has one goal during this pandemic, it is that he will not have us forget what a proper underground rave sounds like. His label OAKS aka KAOS (among other names) has been busy churning out club-ready tracks, and on this seventh release of the KAOS segment, Bleached Punk is a treasure and a secret weapon for when DJs will finally be unlocked from their homes.
This collection features four different producers from Berlin (Tham), Copenhagen (Repro), Brussels (Julian Muller), and Grenoble (Binary Digit). The B-side’s “Nancy’s track” is a true banger on this record; Replete with pure rave energies borne out of the thick textures of a hammering kick throwing punches, hard cymbal hits, an ominous bassline that slices the beats, and claps that splash across the surface. The lyrics of a punk-inspired chorus can barely be discerned, apart from the words “if my body keeps pumping on this track,” — well, we can safely assume an overdrive state is inevitable.
A gem on the A-side, Tham’s “Aiming for the Innocent,” is a high-energy marathon led by a buzzing, catchy synth motif that haunts us throughout. The lurking, precise drum elements build suspense from the very beginning, and with the buzzy, quivering bassline, Tham is out for blood with this track.
True to his artistic vision, Oaks has curated sounds dedicated to the revival of rave sentiments from earlier decades, bringing a kind of intense fast-paced dance inertia that will have everyone in the techno community hit the ground raving.
-Lina Xing
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