Pass It On is the debut release from The Joy Boys, a collaboration between long-term friends Raf Daddy (one half of The 2 Bears, along with Joe Goddard of Hot Chip) and Toby Young (aka bootleg producer youngTEE).
It's a typically chunky house production with plenty of ravey touches focused on the dancefloor, even more so than The 2 Bears. Opening with 'The Wake', the EP kicks things off with some carnival sounding brass and samba inspired shuffling drums. The track builds with a some intensity, throwing in laser blasts and vicious bass stabs, and comes off like a midnight spent losing yourself in Brazil.
The title track is a little slower to build but becomes a bit psychotic, vocal snippets applied as percussion and cut up synths providing what there is of a melody. An evil bassline and the chanted vocals create a dark, twisted track.
'Shake The Tip' has more Latin rhythms, a bouncy bass and some screeching synths, and it points the way to the EP's rave obsessed conclusion but feels a bit flat in comparison. 'Kitchen Sink' closes, and the title is doubtlessly a self-parody of the fact that the duo seem to throw about twice as many ideas at each track as the need to, and here probably even more... We have rave horns, whistles and a love of the grimey south-London sound that suits these guys so well.
This is undoubtedly little more than music to lose your shit to, but within that confine it's pretty classy. Keep your eyes peeled for a launch party in Peckham on 14 September.
Pass It On is out now on Southern Fried Records, available on MP3 from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate link]. Preview via Soundcloud below: