It must have been quite a meeting at Warp when they sat down to decide what tracks Battles should release as singles from their debut album 'Mirrored.' 'Tonto' contains nothing of what makes a classic single – it doesn't even have the bizarre catchiness of previous 'hit', the maniacal 'Atlas.' Nevertheless, it does pretty much encapsulate everything that Battles are about – glitchy electronica, surgical precision, scatter-gun hooks and several grams of proggy oddness. It's not a bad package of live tracks and remixes either, with the pick being Four Tet's malevolent take on the A-side. There will come a day when all bands sound like Battles - but none of them will be as good.
Released 22/10/07 on Warp Records.
by Neil Condron
Tags: Battles
Battles - 'Tonto'
