Eaters - 'Optimum'

This old-skool homage to electro hip-hop is the follow-up to the critically successful LP 'Digest'. 'Optimum' is a good LP for both pre-club and post-club parties, with the beats keeping the tempo both upbeat and chilled. The three-man crew from Edinburgh claim to not give a damn about fashionable trends which for the main part is evident in this LP's innovative and original sounds. However, the vocal stylings on some tracks in part sound like a piss-take of The Streets, with a quite clear reference to the vocals of the suburbs, and with clumsy and quite laughable lyrics. However, if you ignore this factor, the base grounding of this LP is very good with smooth and cool instrumental shifts in many of the tracks. A good (and could-be-great) offering from home-grown talent, if only the vocals were not so predictable. [Gemma Couper]