After lying dormant for the last decade, late 90s digital hardcore outfit Atari Teenage Riot are back making their customary screaming racket and generally causing a fuss.
Blazing a fiery trail of highly political, anarchist revolt through the latter part of the 90s, ATR released three studio albums (Delete Yourself!, The Future of War and 60 Second Wipeout), as well as a number of live albums, including the excoriating Live At Brixton Academy. However, the band became increasingly fraught with problems. An infamous gig in Berlin in 1999 resulted in a riot and the arrest of all the members of the band, and signalled the beginning of the end for ATR. After the death of MC Carl Crack of an overdose in 2001, the group disbanded.
Now it’s 2011 and ATR has been resurrected. The ATR latest incarnation features Alec Empire, Nic Endo and new MC CX KiDTRONiK. The new album Is This Hyperreal? promises crushing industrial punk electronica with an unabashedly political stance (human trafficking, political activism, class war, perils of the digital age). See what I mean here, with the first track, ‘Activate’:
As an aside, Alec Empire was a special guest at Patrick Wolf‘s Berlin show recently, and just a couple of days ago Patrick tweeted that he’d just barely managed to make out of the ATR mosh pit alive. So you know what to expect from ATR’s gig at Salzhaus, Winterthur this Saturday – don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Atari Teenage Riot play @ Salzhaus, Winterthur, Saturday 21.05.11. Tickets here.
Atari Teenage Riot‘s new single ‘Activate’ is out now on Digital Hardcore Recordings. Their fourth studio album Is This Hyperreal? is released on 20.06.11.
