A few years back, so-called "new rave" came and went, spawning in its multigenre, neon-baked wake a generation of artists who clearly profited from Justice's mainstream crossover. From the mid-'00s to the decade's end, a certain form of unapologetic electro ruled cool-kid dance floors, its signature chain-saw-sounding bass lines growing more and more aggro with every year.
There's only so much harder, better, and faster you can go, though, and clearly the electronic music tides have changed. Everyone's into heavy bass now, dubstep rules the roost, and that old brand of electro-house has officially been declared passé. So what of all the artists who got lumped into this category? The wisest have updated their sound and moved on, among them Designer Drugs, who headline this Friday's "Summer Beats" party at Club Cinema. Though they still mostly stick with a 4/4 beat, they've gone notably harder, darker, and more acid-drenched. The new approach is evidenced on the duo's long-in-the-making debut album, Hardcore/Softcore, which finally arrived earlier this year.
