The longer that Electric Callboy stick around, the more it seems like they might actually know what they’re doing after all. Of course, there’s still a degree of empowerment / enablement that’s gotten them here. The 2010s were lousy with shite electro-metal bands begging for industry coin (remember Skip The Foreplay? Hope not), but because Hypa Hypa caught on and Electric Callboy were deemed bankable enough, here we are. And yet, they seem to have run with it a bit. TEKKNO actually stuck the landing in dedication to fun factor above all else, recognising and embracing the ludicrousness of metalcore fused with Eurotrance. In the wrong headspace, it’s like having nuclear waste poured in your ears, but when it works, it works.
What’s most surprising, though, is the way in which Electric Callboy have continued to treat what they’ve got. They’re unquestionably popular with the rock crowd and crush live in any such setting, but in terms of musical strategy, they’re sticking much closer to the acts that inform their electronic side. Discounting the four remixes at the end, TANZNEID has ten tracks, eight of which were pre-release singles. That’s just the EDM model in full effect, where bucketing it all together as an album almost feels done for convenience’s sake. Similar is Escalation Fest, essentially the TANZNEID release party with extracurricular activities to double as a mini, Electric Callboy-themed Tomorrowland.
TANZNEID itself, then, benefits a fair bit from that structure. As essentially a singles compilation, there’s no space for filler or fluff. With such tightened, individualised visions, too, you can see how Electric Callboy have made such an optimal version of this sound. Songs like RATATATA and Elevator Operator have nailed translating the ‘oontz-oontz’ of it all to metalcore, be that through simply quicker tempos, or how much of that Eurodance sound has been left in undisturbed. It’s not just that clean singer Nico Sallach could’ve come straight from O-Zone; entire portions of this sound could, too. It’s almost shocking that this isn’t clumsier in how it turns out, but the meld is just that well put-together.
Conversely, that reveals The Way You Are as the album’s worst song, and it’s not even close. This is the dreaded side of such a mashup, where the gimmick feels cheap instead of something considered for more than two seconds. Here, a Backstreet Boys ballad with a metalcore bit slapped in the middle that sees Electric Callboy poison themselves for the purposes of “Look at how zany this is!” At least when Hurrikan did a similar thing on TEKKNO, its roots in German Schlager music lent some cultural specificity. This doesn’t even have that; it’s a hat on a hat, in service of literally nothing.
More than any other singular track on TANZNEID, The Way You Are proves that Electric Callboy are not a monolith. Rather, there’s a very specific range within which Electric Callboy can work, and anything outside of it is such a marked downgrade. Credit to them—said range doesn’t allow for much variety, and they do so well with what they can. For as garish and obnoxious as their main form is, it comes from a place of sincerity and the desire to it well; it’s another reason that The Way You Are is such a phenomenal dud. But then there’s the workmanlike cover of Sum 41’s Still Waiting that exists only as a bone thrown to Frank Zummo for being Electric Callboy’s current drummer, or Revery and how it could’ve come from countless other, lesser metalcore bands. This is the other nonviable extreme of Electric Callboy, where they try to be a real band at the expense of every drop of personality.
Fortunately, they’re clear exceptions, as TANZNEID is weighted more towards sounding like a single functioning brain cell is being shared by all involved. At its best, profundity and intelligence are pitched far away; the neologistic title that translates to ‘Dance Envy’ could have a theme buried somewhere, but it really doesn’t. (Even The Savior’s backdrop of the end of the world is approached in very club-friendly fashion.) Rather, the best, most effective songs on TANZNEID seem to come when there’s a decorative button affixed for both band and listener to ogle at. RATATATA originated as yet another globetrotting Babymetal collaboration; Hypercharged was created as a theme for the hero shooter Brawl Stars; Let The Good Times Roll is an excuse to bring in The Offspring (‘cause they did Let The BAD Times Roll—get it?) and validate its Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) reference.
Yes, it’s extremely vapid; no, it’s not a criticism worth levelling against Electric Callboy. Again, this is a band whose best comes from maximalist hammering and a fried-out view of the colour spectrum; get the vibe right and you’re there. It’s why drawing attention to production fidelity or instrumental prowess almost seems a little pointless (although there’s a pretty cool bass roil on Heartclub that should get a mention). Overt simplicity and the character it fosters is all that this album really hinges on.
To that end, the first half or so of TANZNEID absolutely bangs, filled with the high energy and pedal-to-the-metal tempos that make Electric Callboy soar. After that, it’s a little more wobbly, but never devoid of likable qualities. Nico Sallach and Kevin Ratajczak are a good vocal team throughout, and aren’t locked to the serious one / silly one dynamic that’s often more of a hindrance to metalcore like this. There’s a simpatico electricity that, even in the album’s most ludicrous, stupid moments, makes neither sound like they’re mortified to be here. That’s always what you want, for the record.
Might as well briefly mention the remixes at the end, too, and how…fine they are. They’re on the standard version of the album, for whatever reason, and do disrupt what’s otherwise a pretty sharp listen. That said, while inessential and skippable (Sullivan King’s ears should be burning by now, and not just from the racket of his two dubstep cuts), they arguably fit the vision of Electric Callboy as well as anything else. Given how their Electric Bassboy alter ego has taken on a life of its own, something reminiscent of that to beef out the package is totally in the right spirit. Even if TANZNEID is better as a whole with them lopped off, it’s hard to begrudge the remixes being here at all when they stick so true to the band’s persona.
So, to wrap it all up: how is TANZNEID as a whole? Well, it’s definitely good, with grand, gaping flaws in about equal size and magnitude to its highlights. What ultimately saves it, though, is how all of that is also imperative within the whole Electric Callboy experience. This is a band founded entirely on the biggest of swings, and that as a bar-none rule can do a lot all on its own. The fact that TANZNEID’s majority manages to work—with an appreciable amount of that being outright great—means way more than a band simply riding off residual viral hype. Somehow, against every conceivable odd under the sun, Electric Callboy are close to being a legit good band, and that’s worth plenty of praise.
For fans of: Babymetal, Ice Nine Kills, Samurai Pizza Cats
‘TANZNEID’ by Electric Callboy is released on 7th August on Century Media Records / Sony Music.
Words by Luke Nuttall
