SCOOTER – “Shake That!”
There is a very common trope in science fiction whereby a society of the future has evolved curious and inexplicable customs which turn out to have – oh irony – been based on misunderstandings of our own contemporary tat. I have seen the sacred oracle and OMG IT’S AN OLD RADIO!!! Hearing Sheffield Dave cry “I am a junglist man!” with the protestant fervour of a heretic at the stake you suspect that some similar process has created Scooter – this is not a definition of ‘junglism’ that Optical or Dillinja would rally round.
To the basic cult objects of Scooterism – a KLF record; a ’93 Simon Reynolds cutting; a glowstick – has been added a new relic, namely an old Stretch and Vern single. Pop success has gone to Scooter’s head and this superb single – which came out last year and I disgracefully missed – is the warped outcome. It is Scooter making an upfront handbag record, viz some boshing mid-90s pop-house with Sheffield Dave shouting things like “turn it on like killer bees!” on top. In a fairly crowded field it may be the oddest thing Scooter have ever done, especially when the tap-dancing bit comes in. Towards the end Dave yells “LIFE WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE IS DEATH IN DISGUISE” and it’s utterly exciting and even rather profound.