The intro of Token Love Number is like something from a Japanese version of Dad's Army,
complete with marching drums and a weird tin whistle solo. Within twenty seconds a Beach
Boys-esque riff surfs into the mix, followed soon after by a brass section refrain with
the potential to attach itself inside your brain for days. The vocals are a cross between
The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne and William Shatner's spoken word albums delivering lines
such as "when love comes round, you should take it in your hands, and don't never let
the bugger get away". There is a synth-led breakdown later in the track that features
samples of cats meowing and a Beck-style vocoder voiceover. The whole thing is catchy
as hell and is one of the most joyous dance tracks one could hope to hear.
Second track Nu-Definition is much darker and wouldn't sound out of place on Massive
Attack's 'Mezzanine’' album - in terms of both its beats and the dirty guitar sound that
features heavily. Random phrases and samples make up much of the lyrics such as "extensive
information gathering, electronic surveillance, the era of the computer". This is a
completely different experience to the one offered by Token Love Number but works
well in its own right and shows main-man Paul Mills' versatility within the dance genre.
Live at the End of Time picks up this darker side of SLBC and runs with it to its extreme
with much sparser beats and a more sinister vocal performance. The distorted guitar is
again in place but is used much more sparingly here, adding to the bleak soundscape but
only where absolutely necessary. Lyrically, lines such as "shop til you drop, til they
drop the bomb" and "every single day is like a landmine" help to realise the apocalyptic
vision given by the title. And this is apparently the edited version.
SLBC show more than enough here to indicate that they have the potential to succeed in two
distinct branches of the indie/dance market – Token Love Number is fantastic and follows
the schizophrenic sampling of acts such as The Avalanches and could easily repeat their success.
It should be finding its way to an indie night near you soon.