Choon of the Week - The Chemical Brothers "Electronic Battle Weapon 7 (Acid Children)"

If you love music, there are probably a handful of gimmicky sounds that always elicit happy vibes from you like a Pavlovian dog. There are a bunch of musical trademarks I respond to, one of which is the furious loop of The Chemical Brothers. The Chems sound has a variety of elements - sometimes propulsive acid hooks, sometimes airy melodies, but almost always beats that straddle the line between hip-hop and house - and when I hear it, invariably my knee jerk reaction is a fist in the air.

The Chems have many devices that I have been sold on over the years, one of which is their Electronic Battle Weapon series. If Tom and Ed have a track ready to be played at clubs prior to an album's release, or an alternate version of an album track that they are itching to unleash, the form is usually the EBW - a white label limited edition of the track that goes out to their favorite DJs and record shops. Prior to the P2P phenomenon, getting your hands on one of these was like finding breakbeat gold - there was no way to hear these tracks unless you got the 12 inch or you were out in a club. Over a year before the release of Come With Us, you could hear the Chems themselves spin "It Began in Afrika" as "Electronic Battle Weapon 5."

With Push the Button coming out in January, it has been preceded by "Electronic Battle Weapon 7," which is also known as "Acid Children." The track opens with a minimal yet up-tempo kick-drum and keyboard combo similar to "EBW 6," which was a hepped-up version of "Hoops" from the last album. After a handful of bars comes the vocal sample - a Freddy Kruger taunt of "you are all my children now…" The real meat of this track is the acid melody line and the disco hi-hat (have Tom and Ed been listening to disco-punk?), which keeps rolling in and out, brought back in each time with an anticipatory sharp monster squelch (you'll know what I mean if you hear it).

"EBW 7" is proper Chems that has already joined the live repertoire (it was just plain scary the first time I heard this in Benicassim this summer). It fits very nicely into the canon: sure there is a little bit there to think about (the demonic and seductive power of house and all of us succumbing to it) but ultimately this song is meant for banging. It's not on Push the Button, so go scour the record shops and ebay if you want 12 inch, and for all of the turntable challenged of you out there, get on P2Ps and find it.

NB: This posting has been ready to post since 10 this morning but the stupid internet has been down at my office all day.