Lucky Bastards Living Up North

AMG Review of Lucky Bastards Living Up North

Joshua Glazer
All Music Guide

Sleazy electro with true grit in the beats and true songwriting in the execution. The Finnish duo that make up Mr. Velcro Fastener hit up every source of electro's diverse history, from 1980s body-popping culture to early Detroit techno and right through to IDM crunch-meets-melodics, to assemble a collection of songs that overshadow most of their 808-obsessed contemporaries. Quick paced tracks like "Real Robots" and "Real Robots Don't Die" send the listener scurrying to find a piece of cardboard suitable for head-spins, while "Knot Three" and "Robots 4 Life" presents a deeper take, more suited for night-driving and head-nodding. "Blue Screens" goes a little to far, slipping dangerously close to chin stroking territory (bad!), but is redeemed by the stuttering ass-wiggle of "The Process." Vintage robot voices and filtered heavy breathing complete the package, making Lucky Bastards Living Up North a well-rounded electro package that keeps it real while bouncing all around the genre.