Fat Truckers

Promoted by their pals in Pulp and stylistically rooted into the current disco-punk revival, this Sheffield dance outfit cheekily declares itself to be "the greatest band in the known universe.” That this claim could just as easily come from a Gallagher brother is a perfect example of Fat Truckers’ general attitude towards originality. That ambivalence also bleeds into their relationship with the tools they use to craft their beats and bleeps. As they sing on "I Love Computers,” a Manchester-influenced bleep-rock rave-up, "they are my family…but I don’t think my computer loves me.” Maybe that’s because Fat Truckers eschew Windows-compatible technology in favour of dirty beats, back-alley bass lines and analogue synth so thoroughly decomposed that the result often seems like cyborg-punk, despite guitars showing up only on the rock-out hardcore track "Fix It.” This primitive grittiness takes much of the edge off the played-out retro-techno vibe saturating tracks like "Anorexic Robot” — a fact the band notes with a self-aware reference to "electro ca$h” in artwork — and allows them to gloriously wallow in the filth of art-school funk. Like early Oasis, Fat Truckers prove it’s possible to make good songs out of decades-old leftovers. But it remains to be seen if they’ll have staying power once dropped from the play list at hipster house parties.