Hoodlum Priest
Heart Of Darkness


Released 1989? on ZTT
Reviewed by WolfLord, 30/10/2001ce


Hoodlum Priest. Whatever happened to them? Whatever happened to this album?
Supposedly the late 80's "white Public Enemy", the NME loved 'em. A coupla big-up reviews and then the album. I only ever saw it on the cassette that I eventually bought from a now-long-dead record shop in Lichfield and I've never seen it since. No LP's, no bargain bin £1 CD albums at Record Fairs. It appeared and disappeared again almost immediately.
What does it sound like? "Introduction To The Heart Of Darkness" starts the show, with ambient noise littered with samples robbed from "Terminator" and "Blade Runner" before it bleeds into "Rock Drill" and "Caucasian" which sound like Consolidated shagging Stanley Kubrick. A tough electronic hip-hop noise betraying elements of Tackhead, On-U Sound, the industrial Ministry etc.
Then suddenly tracks like "C Horse" appear, lovely pop-funk ditties like something off Prince's "Alphabet Street". What? Is this the same band??
Then "The Walker" which subverts Kraftwerk's "The Model" and turns it into a strutting male version "I'm her walker, body talker, dream dream"
And thats your lot. 9 tracks, one album. Cool. No-one I know has ever heard of it.
What did happen to them> Who knows? A couple of mini-albums and then obscurity.
G-Roovy!


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