Album Review: The Prodigy - No Tourists

With so many ageing heritage artists slowing down to try and reinvent the classic sounds of their youth, it’s kinda nice that Liam Howlett is still hellbent on hanging with his mates and making explosive dance music.

On first approach, things seem to be typically brash. Beats get smashed out like typewriters having a hissy fit, rebellious slogans get bellowed and various alarms are deployed accordingly to ward off anyone who accidentally stumbled in expecting him to be growing old gracefully. Need Some1 kicks it off in simple, slammin’ style and Light Up The Sky borrows some squawks from (1994 single) Voodoo People but by We Live Forever and the title track, the rot is already settling in. Career ‘hanger on’ Keith Flint pops his devil's haircut into Champions Of London but it’s so cringeworthy you really wish he’d stayed at home. Slightly more effective are American noiseniks Ho99o9 on Fight Fire With Fire shredding their throats in their efforts to torch a Vauxhall Corsa on the Prodigy’s sonic council estate. 

What No Tourists is lacking is texture. With brick after brick being lobbed noisily through windows, there’s not a lot of room left for spray can art to at least make the walls look pretty.