Factory Floor “Fall Back”
Made up of three rockers from London with a penchant for jacking beats, Factory Floor […]
Made up of three rockers from London with a penchant for jacking beats, Factory Floor doesn’t waste time setting the stage. It’s not about delicate build-ups or atmospheric interludes with these guys. “Two Different Ways,” the trio’s first single for seminal indie-dance imprint DFA, was a sweat drenched, acid-meets-punk-funk workout, and “Fall Back” doesn’t deviate from that concept much—which is a good thing. Leading with a bass modulation that vibrates tighter than a rubber band stretched between New York and Manchester, it sets a relentless pace and demonstrates the group’s nuanced appreciation for both of those musical meccas.
Dominic Butler, Gabe Gurnsey, and Nik Colk Void may like to distance themselves from the references to Factory Records that the press plays up, but “Fall Back”‘s fusion of taut drumming and jacking Chicago machine manipulation makes for some strong parallels. It also puts them right at home with the rest of the DFA roster. The urgency, energy, and attitude “Fall Back” displays when it kicks into gear at the two-minute mark recalls some of the label’s defining moments, including songs like “House of Jealous Lovers,” “All My Friends,” and “Happy House.” Colk Void’s vocal styling exudes detachedness—she’s the cool girl in the room as she monotones, “did you feel like you were going to fall back?” It sounds as if she’s barely present when the steadily flogging beat and electronic tinkering build up around her. Before they engulf her entirely, she calls back, “although you feel like you were going to fall higher.” “Fall Back” is trance inducing, a particular brand of emotive machine music that comes from Factory Floor’s studied marriage of playing and programming. Evolving over a full eight minutes, Colk Void and company are caught in the thick of it, and once this track makes the dancefloor rounds, it’s likely they won’t be the only ones.