This four-song offering by the Chemical Brothers (formerly the Dust Brothers from Manchester) precedes their sequel to last year's Exit Planet Dust, and while some fans may be interested, those unfamiliar with the band would be better off starting with Exit.
Loops of Fury contains some funky, danceable beats laced with occasional waves of acid techno. Since that describes the basic sound, it seems that this EP was designed more for club mixing or DJ'ing rather than in-home use. And quite a club record it is.
The most interesting track is "Get Up On It Like This," although it starts out awkwardly and is hard to follow through to the end. The Dave Clarke remix of "Chemical Beats" is the most fun and easiest to groove to, worth buying the record for. The title track is very enjoyable, but probably the least likely to be played in a club, making it one of the few songs that does not appear to the non-clubber as background music. Unfortunately, "(The Best Part Of) Breaking Up" could easily lose most listeners' interest in the first minute.
There are too many techno cliches in the current scene that have somehow survived from the very stone age of techno and dance music. What makes the Chemical Brothers so unique is their real-world sensibility, and their ability to break down such boring traditions--the same things that make them true leaders of the new techno beat.
