Franz & Shape - ‘Acceleration’ (Relish) Released 22/01/07

With a number of tunes under their belts hammered to death in club land by the likes of 2manyDJs, Erol Alkan and Freeform Five, ‘Acceleration’ sees Franz & Shape release their debut full-length work. Electro to the core, its irrefutable strength is its elasticity in style and sheer pummelling dirtiness. Whereas many dance production acts fall short of expectations with their own artist album, often failing to make a cohesive work, Franz & Shape sound in their element. Indeed, the Italian duo of Francesco Spazzoli and Chris Shape have delivered a powerful work that could very much be this 2007’s ‘OK Cowboy.’

Electrofied opener ‘Channel One’ is a spaced-out slow-building affair that leads into the Depeche Mode -esque ‘Tightropes’. Featuring the first of a series of guest vocalists in the shape of Perspects, importantly, the track is imbued with a poppy feel - clearly Franz & Shape were making an album with the listener’s needs in mind, rather than drifting into introverted experimentation. This eye for a catchy tune never wavers on the album, as exemplified with the robust grooves of the Chelonis R Jones sung ‘God Lost My Address’ and the Mount Sims led electro juggernaut that is ‘3AM Still Life.’

Exhibiting their flexibility in style, arguably the album highlight, ‘This Is The Way’, flits between emotion triggering atmospherics, abrasive electro riffs and the eighties-esque calls of GD Luxxe to devastating effect. But importantly, even tracks devoid of the inspired guest vocalists carry weight. Easily their most famous moment ‘Countach’ is a one-dimensional assault on the senses, custom built to inspire dance floor carnage with its old-school keys and swirling synths, while the album title track is a cacophony of ever hastening twisted, driving electronic noise - complete with a string of false endings.

As the album reaches its climax, the main criticism you could fire at it is that the sounds can easily be sourced - a la the aforementioned Depeche Mode, The Hacker and even album guest artists David Caretta and Mount Sims’ own solo work. While this is an inescapable truth, such misgivings are dispelled by the strength of the tunes ‘Acceleration’ contains.