The Bug featuring Warrior Queen – Aktion Pak (Rephlex)

I didn’t make the video shoot last night because the rest of the family went down with some fluey thing. I guess if you call your project The Bug, you bring this sort of thing along as baggage, eh?

So here’s some thoughts on the new single anyway. Warrior Queen is an excellent choice for a vocalist and hopefully this will be the first in a long line of collaborations.

She comes in hard with vocals that are every bit the match for the apocalyptic storm of the track: “me nah talk – a strictly action!” Ravemental stabs, diwali handclaps, bowel churning rumblings, bring it on! A Warrior Queen for sure – the proverbial x-rated lyrics do not disappoint: rude even when dubbed out or reversed…

World War 3 is more minimal with some ace squeaky noises atop the wobbly bass. WQ’s lyrics are pretty unrelenting – fast chat which sounds like she’s reading out loud from an armaments catalogue. The best bit is 3 minutes in when the Bug dubs it up and brings forth the break.

There’s another new vocal from Ras B over the old doof doof crunch we love so well.

AND! On the CD version there are 5 new versions of tracks from the Pressure LP. It is to Rephlex’s eternal credit that these are humbly presented as a bonus feature of a single rather than being marketed as a stand alone “Pressure: The Dub Versions”, which frankly is what they are. I keep coming back to these…

Politicians Version kicks off with some insane door slamming beats. Bomb Version is fucked up and tweaky. Super Version is all tracky – a real winner which brings to mind some of the more blurry Chain Reaction releases of yesteryear.

F-Yuhself Version is (as you would expect if you’ve heard the album) a stone cold killer. Kevin unleashes the full arsenal of rumbling, buzzing bass, vocals which sound like they’re buried in the depths of the no go zone underneath the Lea Bridge Roundabout. It all sloooowly builds up to a crescendo of Jah Shaka sirens… and then THAT growling bassline drops and before you know if you’re punching your fist in the air in the middle of Liverpool Street station at half past eight in the morning.

My hope is that the versions here will end up as source material for da yoot. How cool would it be to turn on the radio and hear the next generation of MCs dropping lyrics over these monsters?