Jockstrap occupy a strange space. They are musical oddballs who produce the sort of music many might baulk at, and yet, they are also radio-play regulars with a Mercury Prize nomination to their name. ‘I<3UQTINVU’ (shorthand for 'I Love You Cutie, I Envy You') is more interested in exploring the former state than the latter.
While Georgia Ellery’s musicianship remains wonderful to observe, it is the other half of the duo, Tyler Skye, who flexes his production skills on this new project by ‘remixing’ the band's debut album ‘I Love You Jennifer B’.
‘I<3UQTINVU’ starts as it means to go on. Sexy is a rabid and pulsating track, fronted by Babymorocco's humorous self-promotion. It’s a revelation that quickly asserts that this is no half-hearted remix album, but in fact a work unto itself.
Skye's stylised production is pushed to a new level. Quirky has become absurd, hard-hitting has become cataclysmic.
Some tracks bear a more of a resemblance to the originals (though all are renamed) while others beg attentive interrogation of where their roots lie. Glasgow grows into I Touch, shedding its folk and growing its freak, resulting in two excellent compositions with the tether holding the two together fraying more by the minute.
Amongst a talented group of guests, Ian Starr shines on a particularly frenetic reimagining of Neon, hauling a track that was once grounded in a place of anxiety to one of mania – the shift in tension alleviates nothing, but repurposes it.
‘I<3UQTINVU’ is a vastly different project from the one it grew out of and, crucially, it's also vastly different from what a normal remix album promises. Skye dismantles ‘I Love You Jennifer B’ and builds a new, towering and shocking structure, equally as impressive as the one that was demolished to make it.
Jockstrap Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed December 13 2023 - LONDON Barbican Centre
Thu December 14 2023 - LONDON Barbican Centre
Fri December 13 2024 - LONDON Barbican Theatre
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