Knife Party released its debut studio album on Nov 7th, aptly called Abandon Ship. Knife Party is well known in the EDM crowd for 2013's banger "Internet Friends" and is one of the reasons why i love attending EDM festivals, as they always put on amazing live shows.
Abandon Ship was originally going to be released on Oct 24th, but with a change of date to Nov 24th, and a surprise drop on the 7th via Itunes made many of their fans ecstatic. The opening song, starts with a somber message "In the blink of an eye, in the change of the wind; fortunes change" followed by "With every shipwreck, there is a chance to begin again" and that point is made about halfway through this album. I found all the songs fantastic, and I realized some of these newer songs were dropped at EDC 2014 in Las Vegas. The final part of the album left me wanting more. More power, more energy. Just. More. The good thing is all songs are probably going to be re-mixable favorites for the majority of most underground Djs to spin at local and hopefully larger events and parties.
With the First track "Reconnect" does just that, makes me want to Reconnect with the duo I love jumping and shuffling to. While just a mere 1:38 seconds, it made for the perfect opener. The track left me wanting to keep moving, as it built up to lead into the second song: Resistance. All I can say is try to Resist dancing to this track, if you are not moving by the build up and drop of "This is a Knife" you probably should seek medical attention. Resistance will be considered one of Knife Party's essential pieces. Moving Forward to "Boss Mode", an amalgam of several different Drum and Bass genres pushed together in a symphony of perfection that i have never heard before. Boss Mode is my personal favorite track of this album. The skills to put together such a mixture of beats is yet undefined, possibly groundbreaking, and will hopefully inspire more Djs to follow this standard. Pushing forward to the 4th track "EDM Trend Machine" a house/disco track with a surprise drop that is just perfection. House music will always own most EDM lover's hearts, making this track a winner in my eyes and ears. Track 5, '404' will be a festival banger, with a drop that will now be familiar as you continue on your trip in this album, making you want to move and dance with your friends at events, but seeming lacking playing at home, or in the car.
The next track, "Begin Again" seems like a song generated with top 40 radio play in mind, this feels like a song that will receive lots of local and satellite radio play, while that may make for an awesome Single track for the majority, it feels like it was forced together, probably to appeal to the general public mass. While not my least favorite track, notably not the best on the album. Track 7 does something I thought was impossible: A recent statement of many DJs has been *Dubstep is Dead*. The Song titled "Give it up" takes that notion and throws it out the door, bringing out one of the best Dubstep renditions i have heard in 2014. Then "DIMH" breaks out and give up an infectious beat and non stop mover that is unlike any of the previous songs, A lighter beat than what is used in the rest of the album, but infectious, and a definite dance floor killer.
We then move on to a song that has 'College-Kid-overkill' written all over it: "MicroPenis" is just that... something a frat-boy with no clue how to rage and party will jump up and down and raise one hand over his head while pumping up and down and not knowing what is going on, until he realizes the errors of his ways and joins the party the right way, and kills it with awesomeness. Moving along to "Superstar", one of the albums best tracks. This song pushes a phrase: 'Oh my god, what the fuck is this disco-shit, where is the Dubstep?". While I am sure the dubstep is a few songs past, i believe this track is perfect as is, and will be a favorite of all who hear it. 'Red Dawn" brings in an unusual beat, a crazy hook, and something that feels like the familiar Knife Party I remember from their first EP. While it doesn't feel like it belongs on this album at first, I feel this album would have been very incomplete without it, the Sitar used and progressive tempo took me right to "Internet Friends' and reminded me why I love this group so much. The final track, Kaleidoscope brought me to the question, when does this ship sail again? The perfect ending track, left me wanting more, and wishing I could catch Knife Party soon at an event.
To sum up this review, EDM lovers of all genres will find something on this EP they will like. It is infectious, catchy, and feels like one of those albums that could be played infinitely and never get old. I can only hope that this is not their best and more amazing albums will follow in the future.