Cruise [CTRL] – Garmonbozia!

EP, self-released, 2006
www.cruisectrl.be

The name is Cruise [CTRL], the band is Belgian, and the genre is self professedly minimalist electronica, though with an experimental twist. Cruise [CTRL] is a two piece project comprised of composer/programmer John Cult and sonic manipulator DJ Gore. Both of their current releases (the first being “No Hay Banda!” and the second, “Garmonbozia!”, which is the subject of this review) are CD-Rs to be distributed as promos, as the band’s main goal is to find people to work with and to spread their music. Their influences range from minimalist noise acts all the way to hard electro, and they also incorporate themes and inspirations from movie directors such as David Lynch into their overall expression.
Now, as for how their music sounds – the first track on “Garmonbozia !” starts out strongly, building up tension with a constant, droney bassline upon which elements are added one by one, starting with kick drums, then snares and high hat; progressively forming the beat of the song. Eventually, the subtle buildup of complexity in the melodic elements of the song lead into the second track. “Smoke and nude I” is a dark, droney, and occassionally harsh, ambient piece which, like the first track, progressively evolves and morphs into the third and final track.”Crow’s nest” kicks in with a heavy beat that continues along the subliminally textured drones of the previous track, and is guaranteed to keep your head bopping.
The idea is simple – many bands have tried to make releases on which the songs are intertwined, however it often becomes arbitrary and few pull it off in a satisfactory way. However, Cruise [CTRL] have gotten the sliding transitions between tracks down perfectly, and display an intrinsic understanding of the minimalist genre: progressive changes in the song complexity are subtle rather than pronounced, and the melodies are undercurrents of sound rather than catchy synthlines.
They could, however, on the flipside still use some work on their post production – the beats don’t have quite enough ‘UNF!’, and the drones and ambience could have a more enveloping sound. But Cruise [CTRL] seem to have a lot of things going for them. First of all, John Cult and DJ Gore have clearly defined roles, and judging from the three tracks on “Garmonbozia!”, they have a very sound working dynamic. For their upcoming first full length album, they’ve also managed to collaborate with Jean Luc Demeyer of Front 242 as well as noise guru C-Drik.
In short, Cruise [CTRL]’s “Garmonbozia !” is a strong release that is bound to garner a lot attention in clubs in both the electro and industrial scenes, if they get played. Musically, they know what they’re doing, and their upcoming full length album sounds interesting, to say the least.

[8/10]

— Jonas Mansoor