Isn't it kind of alarming that the once cutting edge electronic subgenre of drum-n-bass has now nearly completely resigned its role in the musical world to fodder for car commercials? It's getting to the point that the only notion that traditional drum-n-bass inspires in me is the sudden urge to rush out and take a Pontiac for a test drive. Lamentably, Spring Heel Jack were one of the few reputable drum-n-bass acts to allow the man to devour their soul by signing to Island back in the mid 90's and utilizing the big corporate dollar by releasing two strikingly mediocre albums, 68 Million Shades and Busy, Curious, Thirsty. Both of these can now be discovered in dollar bins throughout this great land of ours.

"Taylor," you may ask. "Is there any one aspect of drum-n-bass which has brought about its impending demise?" Why, yes. I'm glad you asked. The answer is that stupid two-step beat which is the foundation of your archetypal drum-n-bass track. Regardless of how much bleeping and rapid-fire drum machine skitter is layered over this rhythm, it all still sounds fundamentally the same after a certain point. Incidentally, that point was late 1998. To its credit, Treader kicks off with "Is," a nice serving of sample-funk which slices up intriguing beats and serves them with an electric garnish in the temperament of a good Clifford Gilberto or Coldcut track.

Unfortunately, "Is" is a lonely, deserted island amidst a vast 73 minute ocean of prototypical drum-n-bass, inundated with two-step. Even tracks like "Toledo" and "Winter" which start out promisingly enough eventually sink under the weight of the ubiquitous two-step. As the genre goes, Treader exemplifies skilled production and attention to detail, but falters in the innovation department. The digital creations concocted by Spring Heel Jack are nicely textured and evolve naturally to a degree, but never manage to escape repetitiveness. Merely altering the drum sounds used to make the same beat from song to song doesn't qualify as sufficient modification of the genre.

Also grazed by Treader is avant-garde symphonic electronica which fails to spark much interest, as it's comprised simply of linked chords which seem totally incongruous. "More Stuff No One Saw" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" could have been stellar with a finer touch of rhythmic variety, yet ultimately end up repetitive. In all, the typical drum-n-bass explored on Treader becomes rather inane somewhere around the seventh minute of each song. Those who'd harbored a fondness for drum-n-bass back in the day are hereby duly notified that the genre has not expired, but mutated. The future of electronica is being realized by those like Amon Tobin and the kind people at Ninja Tune, whose blood is infused with the irrepressible seeds of innovation.

-Taylor M. Clark