Laid Back / ‘Cocaine Cool’
Vinyl
Brother Music / Released November 22nd 2010
If you release a track with a name like this, on vinyl only to boot, you’d better be serious about it. Thankfully, some 31 years on, Laid Back are still very much the real thing.
“21st Century sound” hooks the vocal breakdown. Amazing, then, that the only things added here since the original loops were laid out in 1981, are the vocals and a bassline. And that the instrumental is nearly better than the A-side, proves beyond doubt that these three-decade old foundations really are something else.
Think proper, hilariously sleazy electro. Bumbling beats and basslines are supported by sliding synths, toybox toms and ping pong percussion. Perhaps had it seen the light of day at the right time, this would have been the track to define many an hour during Ferris’ day off, as oppose to the era-defining Yello outing.
Speculation to one side, fans of Detroit Grand Pubahs, Greenskeepers, and Music For Freaks take note. Some of the original cats are in town, so get your red blazer and ill-fitting pants on because, like the track says, this one’s cooking good.
