Do not be intimidated by the title of Scottish DJ Myles Macinnes' debut album. Recorded under the moniker Mylo, Destroy Rock & Roll finds its method of destruction through straightforward electronica bliss. Already a sensation in the UK, the collection first reached U.S. shores in early February, just in time to warm up even the most frozen dance-music enthusiasts.
Although this demographic is used to the overblown bombast of The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers, Mylo's cross-section of styles comes off as a gut-level punch. This album is no hallmark in production mastery by any means, but its clarity and purity makes it one of the most honest and innocent albums in recent memory.
Mylo makes his mission clear right off the bat: to make you feel happy. Openers Valley of the Dolls\ and ""Sunworshipper"" ride on an airy bass line and grab on to a serene melody. This provides the perfect primer for the unavoidable hysteria in the middle of the album.
This trance-inducing lesson in ambience quickly gives way to some serious head bobbing. The album finds its stride on the third track, and delivers nine straight slices of simple techno pleasure. On the album's highlight ""Drop the Pressure,"" a video-game funk groove gives way to a mesmerizing vocoder mantra that eventually leads to an octave-jumping freak-out.
The '80s synth-pop breakdown on ""In My Arms"" is complete with a sample from Kim Carnes' ""Bette Davis Eyes,"" and sounds like that peak moment during the craziest rave you've ever been to, or the one you wish you were invited to. The nods to European house music continue with catchy brilliance on tracks like ""Rikki"" and ""Otto's Journey,"" which are so simple and smooth they could make even the best French DJ blush. These uncluttered, natural pieces of pure dance bliss will undoubtedly catapult into club-anthem status, which they have already done in Europe.
The album finishes with the same spacey, chilled-out atmosphere that it began with. The beautiful ""Need You Tonight"" rolls along with a heartbreaking vocal sample and sweeping synth chords, and ""Emotion 98.6"" brings the album to a close in the most laid-back fashion possible, leaving the listener with nothing but a good mood.
Mylo's best tracks work so well they travel in perfectly straight lines. He bombards you with an irresistible hook and refuses to let you go. Although he uses undeniably clichéd tricks of the electronica and house trade like synth-pop melodies, disco grooves and filter sweeps, the pure joy of the tracks make you forget you have ever heard any other music before. Destroy Rock & Roll is an album of pure dance euphoria, created not by pushing the limits of the genre, but by focusing on the simplest, purest elements of what makes music enjoyable.
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