Judi Chicago is at the forefront of a scene where Bacardi Breezer beats and Knight Rider electro are the hottest jams on the block. Indeed Travis Thatcher is the Michael Knight to Ben Coleman's ultra-sleek Kitt; cruising along Sunset Strip, fighting crimes and saving lives one electro dance party at a time.
Since 2006 the dynamic duo of multi-instrumentalists Thatcher and British-born ATL transplant Ben Coleman, have crafted a mashup of classic house music and new millennial strut with a sharp and art-damaged cyber punk stutter. Both utilize a range of new and old electronic instruments, many of them modified, circuit-bent or built from scratch. This, in addition to live percussion, guitar, bass and horns in stead of relying on samples, adds depth and punch to the group's sound and rises above the limitations of traditional electronic music.
Judi's reputation as a kick-ass and unpredictable live act grows continually as the group bemuses, excites and moves the crowd at every show, cross-fading between too many genres to grasp in one coherent sentence. Thatcher and Coleman have shared stages with the likes of Battles, Captain Ahab, Bonde Do Role. Gravy Train!!! and many others; dressed to the nines in fancy headgear and outlandish costumes that add flavor to the spectacle.
The group's debut release Judi Chicago x 1,000,000 is a ragged and righteous dance floor manifesto that's bursting at the seams with big drum and bass, big dada and non sequitur poetics that come together under the guise of explosive house music.
The infernal roar that underscores the beat clusters and cow bells in the anthemic “Mad Ape” are a sharp contrast to the blissfully sun-bleached synth stabs of “Burger Joy.”
There is an undeniable sense of humor that's hard at work in songs, like the album's opening number “Jack Your Box” and the subsequent “Good For Your Neighbourhood.” It's a tongue-in-cheek lashing of justice; a calling out of imitators, infiltrators, perpetrators and player haters that's delivered with punk rock irreverence and a Vice Magazine Do and Don't sneer.
Every element of the recording drips with the naturally funny posturing of antiquated technology being kicked around by the condescending clarity of modern fidelity. These dual layers butt heads, reproduce and perpetuate in swirling techno fugues of drawn-out-rhythms and chants. The whole party moves its booty to the sound of Judi's riotous stomp. It's a sound that's bound by an undeniably universal appeal that stretches from the vain and beautiful shores of Los Angeles to the neon palm trees of Miami Beach and all points in between and good time is had by all who are within earshot.
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