In the mid ’90s, after Kurt Cobain decided to end his life by way of a shotgun and MTV decided to significantly scale back its music video operations in exchange for foisting Chris Hardwick, as well as the loathsome nesting dolls that became The Real World, upon us (per their 1981 agreement with the Devil) and radio became more deregulated (read: more awful), there was a brief stretch of time in which it looked like electronic music would catch fire in a mainstream sense in the U.S. People talked about techno in a kind of serious way. Madonna was rumored to be joining the genre (which she did eventually, with Ray of Light). People talked about Kraftwerk again. Of course it would turn out to be short-lived, the idea that techno/electronic music would become a real mainstream presence but “Block Rockin’ Beats” by The Chemical Brothers gave the idea an air of legitimacy at the time.
I once read (I think in Rolling Stone) someone make the analogy that “Block Rockin’ Beats” was the “Whole Lotta Love” of electronic music during the mid ’90s and to this day I think that that is a fitting observation and comparison. It’s an adept comparison in a literal sense because “Block Rockin’ Beats,” like “Whole Lotta Love,” is the first song on a second album by a band whose debut album was a show-stopping killer. Led Zeppelin I was a helluva debut within the sphere of rock and Exit Planet Dust, The Chemical Brothers debut album, was a helluva debut too—it’s a big beat electronic masterpiece. In a more subtle way, the comparison also fits because many people would be justified in wondering if the debut albums would ultimately be filed away under Lighting-In-A-Bottle-Debut-Albums when they were first released; that their sophomore efforts would succumb to overthinking and overproduction. “Whole Lotta Love” and “Block Rockin’ Beats” blew away those fears and/or questions, as Zeppelin would go on to be an iconic rock band and The Chemical Brothers would go on to be not only one of the most recognizable electronic bands of the last three decades but also one of the best big beat bands of all time.
If you are unfamiliar with the term ‘big beat’ as it relates to electronic/techno parlance, it means exactly what you think it does: big, larger-than-life beats that consume you in a way that, I think, brings this particular electronic genre the closest to rock’s essence. When you listen to Exit Planet Dust or Dig Your Own Hole (the album that “Block Rockin’ Beats” opens) it feels like you are listening to a rock record rather than the kind of exploratory soundscape that most electronic albums can sound like to a fan of rock. (The exploratory nature of many electronic albums is probably why the genre will never be fully embraced by a mainstream public. Not that there’s anything wrong with going that route, I’m just pointing out an opinion. Because if people were attracted to exploratory electronic music then Entroducing….. by DJ Shadow would be a much more recognizable album, in my opinion.) Though “Block Rockin’ Beats” has a primary bass line and a use of siren effects that are decidedly unrock, the rest of the song’s elements—the skipping and oftentimes manic drum beat and cymbal sounds, the guitar distortion-like screeches, the thunderous missile-like bursts of bass—play out like a reimagining of a (mostly) traditionally arranged modern day rock track.
The Chemical Brothers (Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands, pictured left and right, respectively, above) formed in 1992 under the name The Dust Brothers, the same name of the producers that the Beastie Boys have worked with since Paul’s Boutique. In 1995, the American Dust Brothers threatened legal action against Manchester, England-born Simons and Rowlands and the two changed their name to The Chemical Brothers (thus, why their debut album is called Exit Planet Dust). This threatened legal action by the original Dust Brothers is funny, on the surface, for two reasons: 1) the original Dust Brothers weren’t musicians that released their own music (they were producers), and 2) for all of the influence that the original Dust Brothers, and the fertile era of ’80s rap, had on Simons and Rowlands, they didn’t follow the same playbook when it came to their music (Simons and Rowlands were deeply affected by Public Enemy but that influence isn’t readily palpable to most people). But I also understand the big picture thinking here: a brand needed to be protected. (Other than industry people, who else knows that the Dust Brothers are really Michael Simpson and John King?) Maybe it was a good thing that Simpson and King threatened Simons and Rowlands, because during the gap between the Beastie releases Ill Communication and Hello Nasty Simons and Rowlands produced two albums that, at that time, if they had kept the Dust Brothers moniker, would have put them on the same name recognition level as their American counterparts.
Electronic music lost the mainstream war in the mid ’90s,[1] but “Block Rockin’ Beats” helped legitimize it enough to win a few battles here and there (i.e.–The Gap using a Crystal Method song in a commercial). Within a few years boy bands and Eminem and anything that lent itself to be TRL-worthy ruled the music landscape. The Chemical Brothers couldn’t compete with three tweener boys and their “MMMBop” (which, to bring everything back full circle, was a song produced by the Dust Brothers).
Electronic music may never fully become a mainstream force in the U.S. like it is in the U.K., but you can’t reasonably talk about the ’90s and not include The Chemical Brothers in the overall discussion about that decade. The Chemical Brothers released a handful of songs (“Life Is Sweet,” “Hey Boy Hey Girl,” “Let Forever Be,” “Setting Sun”) in the ’90s that are not only some of the very best electronic songs of the decade but are also in the discussion of best songs in general. And then when you factor in “Block Rockin’ Beats” it’s a no-brainer that The Chemical Brothers have a spot in the Pantheon.
“Block Rockin’ Beats” is one of the greatest electronic songs ever made, and probably the greatest big beat song ever made. It might not be enough to convert the rock or hip hop or country diehards but its impact on music, even if its footprint was only temporarily noticeable by a mainstream audience, is not debatable. This is a song that can be enjoyed without glow sticks and strobe lights being present—which, considering how frantic the pace can sometimes get, is quite the accomplishment. Which is what one should expect from the Led Zeppelin of electronic music.
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[1] Yeah, I know, “war” seems like a dumb descriptor to use but the mid ’90s really truly became a temporary wasteland for mainstream music. (Exhibit A: the members of Metallica getting haircuts was a legitimate and buzzworthy thing to talk about.) Rock was becoming watered down, hip hop was still kind of socially polarizing; people my age were looking for something new to take root. And if electronic/techno was going to try to step up then we would let them try to take the reins.
