3 Electro Knights - United / Berlin

London formed 3 Electro Knights are a trio (notice how appropriately named they are?) comprised of Ross Holloway, Daren Pickles and Nik Clifford. These fellas were heavily involved in the Leeds music scenes of the late 80's and 1990's with bands such as Bushpilot, Jesus Licks, Purple Eternal, Supercharger and White Heat. Speaking of Bushpilot, back in 2020 I had the honour of reviewing the band's superb full-lengths Already! and 23 which were reissued by the lovely Jason Stoll of Godunknown Records. Rumour has it that new material is being prepared and I for one will certainly be putting my name down to cover it if and when that transpires.

In the meantime we have 3 Electro Knights to provide us with some new sounds and judging by prior material I'm definitely excited to be given the opportunity to cover United / Berlin, their latest release. Previous works include debut full-length Sketches for Another Future, the Why Don't You Cry Over Me single, the Red Admiral EP and the Rave On EP, all put out in 2022. There's therefore been something of a hiatus since that initial flurry of activity, so here's hoping its well worth the wait. At only two tracks there isn't exactly a lot to get through, especially when the 7”'s total running time clocks in at a mere seven minutes and thirty four seconds. This is unusual to me as I usually associate Electronic music with being quite lengthy and drawn out for the most part, ho hum, less is more as they say.

'United' is one of the poppier numbers the 'Knights have offered up with a very distinctly early 80's feel which fans of pre-Dare Human League (their best era let's be honest), early Gary Numan (before his then descent into Funk/Rock oblivion) and post Ultravox John Foxx will surely appreciate. Comparisons to Kraftwerk could also be drawn but then that's surely inevitable for most artists who are largely Synth driven? The track has a robotic, icy cold feel but one which still manages to be throughly engaging. Surprising when you consider the fact that it's actually a cover of the Throbbing Gristle classic, taken from 1978's D.o.A: The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle, hardly a band known for troubling the charts. Its therefore to the 'Knights credit that they make it so darn 'accessible' and resultantly catchy, sublime.

'Berlin' is an original number albeit one that heavily samples David Bowie in conversation mode as well as his collaboration with Queen on 'Under Pressure' and his own 'Let's Dance'; from the album of the same name. I'm sure there's other reference points that might have been missed along the way but as someone who dips in and out of Bowie's catalogue I can't recall what these may be. According to the record's promo-notes on Norman Records, it is “a glinting homage to the city’s industrial past and techno-futurist spirit” a description which perfectly sums up the track's vibe. Sonically it appears to predate Joy Division's heavier use Synth laden sounds on Closer when it was employed in a far more bleak sounding fashion. Indeed Bowie's Berlin trilogy proved highly influential not only on the doomed Manchester Post-Punk legends but also here. A moody yet highly effective concluding track.

This latest work from Holloway and co demonstrates that it's possible to forge engaging Electronic music without it resorting to pretension or Rave irrelevance. Regarding the latter its important to note that the music produced here transcends drug-taking self-indulgence and into something far more intelligent and inspiring.