Pop Will Eat Itself - Box Frenzy (1987/2003)

A hint (some might say warning) of what was to come on its follow-up record, the sample-heavy Box Frenzy is a fury of hip-hop, rock, and dance. Pop Will Eat Itself had yet to fully develop their wildy eclectic sound and satirization of politics, so there's a few odd numbers here. Among those is "Inside You," an innocent pop song that borders on cheesy new wave. Box Frenzy's imaginative sampling is culled from unlikely places and the band openly admits to lifting sounds from television and other artists. They even describe how they sample in the comical "Hit the Hi-Tech Groove." Much of this wouldn't have gone over too well in the late '90s. Considering this was released in 1987, it's rather impressive. [The 2003 reissue of Box Frenzy adds expanded liner notes, improved sound, and a wealth of bonus tracks. Five of the tracks first were released as B-sides of singles between 1987-1988: "Bubbles," "Ugly," "Picnic in the Sky," "...On the Razors Edge...," and "Kiss That Girl." There are also two live tracks, "She's Surreal" and "Hit the Hi-Tech Groove," and both sides of Pop Will Eat Itself's seminal sampledelic classic "Def Con One"/"Pop Will Eat Itself at Def Con One" single, their last for Chapter 22.]