World Domination EnterprisesLet's Play Domination
Released 1988 on Product Inc.
Reviewed by gordon xx, 24/02/2002ce
The characters woven into these songs are typical of the subculture painted by the music. People with colour, life and frayed edges. Their ghosts may be at the sharp end of political exploitation, but getting stamped on isn’t even an option. Queen of the ghetto, the Ghetto Queen. Hotsy Girl, Ragamuffin Man and Bullit Man all stalking their own collages. Catalogue Clothes. Even the alchemic version of Funky Town struts enough stuff to make the favelas sound like carnival. Keith would be there in the thick of things, constantly appearing in his fading ‘Conquering Lion Of Judah’ t-shirt; there would be Rasta, U-Roy, Prince Jazzbo - the sound of Jamaica and the inner cities.
Late 1987; and My Bloody Valentine have released their jangle-pop classic ‘Strawberry Wine’. By mid ‘88 they’ve reinvented themselves as the front-runners of British noise bands. The Brits have introduced the sonic assault to their armoury, picking up the Mary Chain’s baton and drawing heavily from what the likes of Sonic Youth and Husker Du had been blueprinting in the US. But World Dom were a step ahead, and a step apart. Whereas the House of Love traced their feedback genealogy back to The Only Ones and the Velvet Underground, bands such as WDE were taking a different route. They brewed a more universal potion, extending the hybrid invention of PiL and The Slits and embracing dub reggae and hip-hop. Label-mates with Swans and Young Gods, they were always conveniently lumped in as an industrial band, but their sound never sat comfortably along with Neubaten or Skinny Puppy – they played guitar / bass / drums, and they seemed to have more in common with peers such as Silverfish or Terminal Cheesecake. They were aware of their musical and social roots, and they knew how to make distorted guitars sound like a hurricane. Breakneck rock’n’rollers – ‘Look Out Jack’ - have the drums thundering all over the place, and ‘St Etienne’ has its French lyrics spat out at full throttle.
The cover of ‘I Can’t Live Without My Radio’ is a masterstroke. The sentiment fits seamlessly onto the tracklisting. It’s a bold take on the LL Cool J classic, with Keith becoming Kool K, his ranting vocal style complementing the swagger of the original rap, sticking two fingers up at the moral guardians of society. Despite (because of?) the use of a beat-box instead of drums for a rare appearance on the record, this performance is so strong and fluent that you wonder why so many others even bother with their lame attempts at the posturing of rock / rap MTV crossovers. With WorldDom it’s all there already; there’s no cynical manipulation or trendy references. Just plenty of reminders that WDE bring essentially their own fiery brand of punk rock.
It’s a burning mish-mash of a sound, and it’s brewed up in a hell of a cauldron.