Remixes are best when the thread between the original and the rework is spiderweb thin: you can trace the origins, sure, but suddenly you're in love with a song in a whole new way. This is exactly what Night Works achieves with Sub Pop's latest signees, Thumpers. "Sound of Screams" is a carnival whirl of clattering sticks and skyscraping harmonies: it's declarative, upbeat, and chest-swellingly giddy.
In short—remixing this sucker is a tough gig. But Night Works, aka Gabriel Stebbing, rips it apart and stitches it back together with a piano line last heard on some early-90s house tune, some cosmic Italo disco synths, and an almost breakbeat-y skip. And then he goes and throws another curveball: some old soul vocal sample. Suddenly this surging indie-pop track is low-slung and sexy.As for how the union came about, Thumpers singer Marcus Pepperell had this to say: "We were there at Night Works' debut gig in Hackney, London, which was a Halloween show. So we were introduced to the band standing between Andrew WK and Little Dead Riding Hood. It was a dream and knew we had to do something together at some point."
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Thumpers debut LP, Galore, will be released via Sub Pop on February 11, 2014.
Want more Night Works? Check out all his triumphs and fashion fails as he shares his old photo albums.