The Chemical Brothers
B-Sides Volume 1

There is a famous and fortuitous photo capturing the Chemical Brothers in front of a dilapidated "East Village Pharmacy" in some city or other (Detroit? The East Village itself?) in a pose that has become classic: one, white as a ghost, stares at you from behind yellow sunglasses, while the other is distracted by who knows what, his eyes almost hidden by the hood. Both dressed in black leather. These are, and will always be, I suppose, the Chemical Brothers of my imagination. Even though they're probably in their forties now. When I listen to something sufficiently powerful by the Chems, be it new or old stuff, I think of that so metropolitan and pure image, wonderfully reassuring, and I delude myself that our guys haven't totally gone dumb since a certain 2005, that they are still the greatest "electronic rockers" of all time (which times are rather recent, after all).

While indeed groups like Leftfield and Fluke met an unfortunate end and Underworld turned to mere refinement of their usual (always excellent) style, the Chemical Brothers instead gave life to ever-changing electronic visions, altering their style at will and constantly challenging themselves. And this collection of b-sides is there to prove it, taking the listener back to times now remote, when this music still traveled in an underground circuit and there wasn't a need to compose a minimal track to top the charts.

Of course, not everything is rosy with the b-sides of this album... in fact, it starts off poorly with "Nude Night," characterized by a lousy keyboard riff as anonymous as it is irritating in the stupidity of the synth used, and probably placed there just for the sake of numbers. Matters improve with the following "Base 6," which brings you back to the raw power of the early "exit from planet dust" days, between hip hop beats, acid parts, dominant bass, and other chemicalsian stereotypes. "Sure, it's all old stuff," someone might think, "they're burned out"... and here's the kicker: the next track, "Clip Kiss," is a very recent piece and although I never come to love the synths they use as a base, the song kicks ass like few others... it quickly reminds me why I love the Chemical Brothers, for their unique way of dominating psychedelic music in such a garish but almost never superficial way. "The Diamond Sky," a psychedelic name in itself, revisits "Surrender" without falling too much into the banal, returning to play with reversed tapes, which maybe they didn't invent, but I don't know any other DJ who uses them better.

All the elements and assurances for which the Chemicals have been loved, becoming a reference point for many artists (not just electronic), are concentrated in these ten "hopeful songs" for a better future in memory of the past.

"Prescription Beats" will take you back to the days of "Dig Your Own Hole" in the blink of an eye, "Late In Mate" to those of the debut, and there's no shortage of the typical orientalist sound, present in "H.I.A" (vintage '99) which is a dancefloor bomb, or in the concluding "Snooprah" which is nothing but a house-style reinterpretation of "Harpoons." A nice reinterpretation indeed, and most importantly, a new piece.

Unfortunately, we are faced with a collection of b-sides and this is evident given that the pieces are entirely disconnected from each other and you can seamlessly slide from the sound of the latest Chems to that of their debut. But this can also be a merit if you will, since inside this album the most romantic can find the chameleon essence of the brothers in all its orgiastic vision. It is likely that the Chemicals, by releasing this collection just a few months after "We Are The Night," wanted nothing more than easy profits. Sure. Yet they have also gained something humanly better than money, and that is a bit of the trust that the terrible 80s revival had mercilessly wiped out.

Maybe not all is lost. I hope they pop into the East Village Pharmacy every now and then...