In the U.S., Soft Cell, the British duo of singer Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball, was a classic one-hit wonder, that hit being the remake of Gloria Jones' "Tainted Love," which dominated dance clubs and eventually peaked in the pop Top Ten with its synth-pop sound and Almond's plaintive vocal in 1981-1982. In the U.K., the group not only had a longer career, but also influenced a raft of similar performers. Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, originally released in Britain in the fall of 1981, contained both the band's first hit and its follow-up, "Bedsitter," its title referring to what in America would be called a studio apartment. (A third U.K. Top Five hit, "Say Hello Wave Goodbye," emerged from the LP.) At full album length, lyricist Almond's primary preoccupation, only suggested in "Tainted Love," was spelled out; this was a theme album about aberrant sexuality, a tour of a red-light district. The point was well made on "Sex Dwarf," with its oft-repeated chorus "Isn't it nice/Sugar and spice/Luring disco dollies to a life of vice?" Songs like "Seedy Films," "Entertain Me," and "Secret Life" expanded upon the subject. The insistent beats taken at steady dance tempos and the chilling electronic sounds conjured by Ball emphasized Almond's fascination with deviance; it almost seemed as though the album had been designed to be played in topless bars. British listeners saw through Almond's pretense or were amused by him, or both; more puritanical Americans tended to disapprove, which probably limited the group's long-term success stateside. But the music was undeniably influential.
Second Toughest in the Infants wasn't actually Underworld's sophomore album, but it was their second full-length since progressive house DJ Darren Emerson joined the core lineup of Rick Smith and Karl Hyde in 1991, transforming them from a mediocre dance-rock duo into one of the most original, acclaimed, and successful electronic groups of the '90s. As with its predecessor, 1994's Dubnobasswithmyheadman, Second Toughest was a critical success as well as a commercial hit, reaching the Top 10 of the U.K. album charts and converting a significant number of American listeners right around the time that "electronica" was being hyped as the next big thing in the United States. In comparison to Dubnobass..., Second Toughest was less club-centric and more diverse in its approach, flirting with drum'n'bass rhythms on a few cuts, experimenting with slide guitar loops on the elegant "Blueski," and slowing to a crawl for its final song, the dreamy "Stagger." The trio proved to be masters of pacing and dynamics, crafting lengthy epics (the album's first two tracks collectively exceed half-an-hour) which excitedly build and release, flowing through vivid melodic themes and interlocking rhythmic patterns, and segueing from intricate breakbeats to calmer, more downtempo passages. The album's multi-part suites also harkened back to another era of "progressive" music, the prog rock of the '70s, and like that period's most popular groups, Underworld made brainy, ambitious, mystical music that was also accessible and listener-friendly. The album also remains remarkable for Hyde's surrealist, cryptic, free-associative lyrics, particularly on stand-out tracks like the choppy, Al Green-referencing single "Pearl's Girl." The album's most ecstatic moment, however, is the buzzing, gleeful "Rowla," which piles on dazzling, distorted synth riffs, hushes down for a bit, and then does it all over again. Second Toughest in the Infants endures as a landmark album, spotlighting Underworld at their creative peak, and remaining an important document of an era when experimental, cerebral electronic dance music received significant mainstream attention.
Perhaps wishing to move from progressive-house flagwavers to trip-hop super-producers on a par with Massive Attack, Leftfield returned after almost five years of silence with a set of blunted trip-hop jams, stoned to say the least -- though glimmers of their house background do show through. Aside from a few uptempo stormers ("Double Flash," "Swords") reminiscent of a slightly less frenetic Jeff Mills, house fans looking for anthems worthy of "Not Forgotten" might be disappointed. The grooves on Rhythm and Stealth are a bit too languid and the productions a bit too intricate for dancefloor consumption. The one track that might make fans yearn for the heady days of 1993, "El Cid," begins with the ephemeral synth for which Leftfield has been known, but soon moves into breakbeat territory. Hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa makes an appearance on the excellent "Afrika Shox," taking the mic on a brutal electro throwdown. As Rhythm and Stealth shows time and time again, it's definitely not 1993 anymore, and Leftfield has moved on with a grace and mastery of production seldom seen in the dance world.
