"Block Rockin' Beats"

The Chemical Brothers
(Astralwerks, 1997)

What the Chemical Brothers picked up from DJing was the art of moving the crowd, no matter how many times you have to repeat the groove to get it over. What they picked up from the rock and roll they grew up on was the recipe for stuffing every track with monster hooks, real live instruments, and enough details to make it work even off the dance floor. What they picked up from hip-hop was how to make the beat go boom and how to dig their own holy racket -- and the Schoolly D pronouncement that powers this battering jam.

-- Douglas Wolk