Gerry Read - U Got No Goddamn Groove

Label: 4^th Wave

As a producer, it seems Gerry Read was born fully formed. Read’s style presented itself as a murky take on retro house grooves with a DIY feel, which was perfectly conceived from his very first releases. Since then, Read could be seen slowly refining his sound through close association with Ramp offshoot 4th Wave, building to his expansive debut album Jummy and recent single Crave / Enjoy A Day Out. While he may be accused of sticking to what he knows, Read’s work has been impressively consistent and his vision undeniably singular, so another addition to the canon, while not surprising, is only good news.

U Got No God Damn Groove

The title track continues Read’s venture into more floor-focused territory, as an earworm vocal loops dustily over clashing hi-hats and a roiling bassline which, through an impressive filtering process, rears its head throughout the track. The breakdown is particularly striking – dropping away to only that looped vocal and building over claps and clanking percussion,  a detuned melody emerges which brings the track home in luminous style. Rubber Hands is a less striking affair but still has groove to spare, as a distorted bassline comes in and out of focus alongside metal-on-metal percussion. Andy Asteroids is alien terrain by comparison, abandoning club focus for a strange bouncing melody and a penetrating scifi mist. It’s business as usual for Read but the A-side is superb, and he continues to mine his loose-limbed house sound with such energy and dedication that it comes as another welcome offering from 4^th Wave.

7/10