Delete Everything

Grebo originators Pop Will Eat Itself have been on a steady roll since Graham Crabb formed a new lineup in 2010. Since then, they have toured frequently and released multiple albums and EPs, and at one point, four of the five members of the groups classic-era formation were back on board. With co-founders Crabb and Adam Mole joined by reunion-era recruits Mary Byker (Gaye Bykers on Acid, Apollo 440) and Davey Bennett, plus new drummer Cliff Hewitt, Delete Everything is PWEIs first studio album in a decade. For the most part, the band have stuck to their signature hybrid of punk energy, rowdy rapping, and muscular breakbeats. Their music used to be chock-full of samples back in the free-for-all era before copyright laws became more restrictive, and while there arent as many in their music now, it still has a hectic pace that seems to reflect life in a nonstop media barrage. Though PWEIs original run produced several U.K. Top 40 hits, in the streaming era, the bands most popular song isnt from one of their own albums, but their Prodigy collaboration "Their Law," from Music for the Jilted Generation (1994). PWEI rework the song on Delete Everything as "Their Law (Aint Our Law)," adding more lyrics and making it even more brash and defiant. The rest of the record similarly takes cues from big beat-era electronica, which PWEI inspired in the first place. Tracks like "Bruiser" and the jungle-influenced "Disco Misfits" are commanding and unsubtle, and the group injects some relevant social commentary into songs such as "Incarcerate the Rich" and "Superficial Intelligence." The albums last few tracks show that PWEI have been paying attention to contemporary music, with the intro to "Built for Fun" hinting at a reggaeton-style rhythm, and the more atmospheric "Where Theres Hope" adopting the beats and flows of trap far more successfully than one might expect. The Monty Python-sampling electropunk spree "Play a Fast " Un" has manic pitched-up vocals, erratic synths, and sporadic tempo changes, suggesting something like a PWEI version of hyperpop. With Delete Everything, PWEI show that theyre still having loads of fun while remaining righteously rebellious. ~ Paul Simpson