Snapped Ankles – ‘Hard Times Furious Dancing’ album review: a deconstructed world
THE SKINNY: How do you create music that sounds futuristic in an age where we have no idea how that future will look? Snapped Ankles answer that question in a very novel way. They seem to deconstruct dance music of the past, creating a glitching, crumbling, intoxicating world designed to get people to face the fractious future and dance all over it.
The album is inspired by an Alice Walker quote from 2010 when the American novelist wrote, “We can still hold the line of beauty, form, and beat. No small accomplishment in a world as challenging as this one… hard times require furious dancing. Each of us is proof.” 15 years on, that feels even more pertinent, but beauty and form are harder to hold—reflected in the scatty mayhem of these dense beats.
This material is designed to be danced along with. It was tried out over the course of 2024 at Snapped Ankles’ ‘Forest Rayve’ club nights in South London. They’ve only fine-tuned it since then, resulting in a record that will reverberate with aplomb when played live. However, on record, that very same sentiment hamstrings proceedings—beats perhaps become too samey when you’re not swaying with a drink. Likewise, the sentiments about capitalism and decay are more like piecemeal utterances to be shouted across a club rather than considered orations that’ll plunge you deep into thought.
Ultimately, that’s where the strengths and weaknesses of the album lie. It feels like a vital addition to a forward-thinking subculture. But the artistic value of the album is beyond the album itself. It might further your love for Snapped Ankles, it might plunge you deeper into what they stand for, and it might give you some unforgettable nights, but it’s unlikely many people will love Hard Times Furious Dancing itself.
For fans of: Taking pills ironically imprinted with the Tesla logo.
A concluding comment from an orthopedist: “Weight-bearing exercise and resistance exercise are particularly important for improving bone density and helping to prevent osteoporosis.”
Hard Times Furious Dancing track by track:
Release: March 28th | Producer: Snapped Ankles | Label: The Leaf Label
‘Pay The Rent’: Glitching, pulsing and partying—the record opens in a propulsive and bold fashion as a scratchy sequencer gets things moving in an ominous manner. Death is set to be the mainstay of the album. [4/5]
‘Personal Responsibilities’: An attack on corporations. Chanted like Mark E Smith, the manic track has a smattering of righteous swagger in its bruising beat. But does it impart much that you didn’t already know about capitalism? [3.5/5]
‘Raoul’: The album’s steady beat and pitch sustain. The consistent sound will feel invigorating live, but on record, you may well begin to crave a bit more of a shift. [3/5]
‘Dancing in Transit’: The shift arrives with drums that sound more acoustic and a frenetic electronica soundscape that feels oddly reminiscent of A Scanner Darkly. The distant and muffled vocal makes it hard to keep track of what is being said, but soon, the orchestration reaches a vibrant fever, and you scarcely care. [4/5]
‘Where’s The Caganer?’: Plunging sounds make the track feel like a sonic panic attack, which is a) effective and b) not all that pleasant. However, you certainly can’t say that it passes you by. [3.5/5]
‘Smart World’: There’s an ’80s feel to ‘Smart World’, like a Kraftwerk track on ketamine trying to imagine what the future might be like. It makes for an odd world to explore, but not one filled with surprises at this stage of the album. [3/5]
‘Hagen Im Garten’: This peculiar piece of music barely resembles music. It’s a curious reconstruction of sound. Sure, there are instruments, but they are presented in a scattered beat that feels like a society of the future trying to piece together an electronic patchwork. That’s certainly interesting, if nothing else. [3/5]
‘摆烂 Bai Lan’: The highest energy mania on the album. It’s a blitzkrieg of beeps and dissonant stabs that is bound to throw a few warehouses into a frenzy. [4/5]
‘Closely Observed’: The finale takes on a more meditative approach and even has some Haruomi Hosono-like melody to it as chants about escaping and breaking out provide a catchy topline. The album’s best moment. [4.5/5]
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