ISOKNOCK “4EVR”: San Diego’s EDM Duo
Can you feel the energy? How can you not when ISOKNOCK’s newest record, “4EVR,” is making your heart rattle around in your rib cage? ISOKNOCK is the new collaborative project of two San Diego DJs, ISOxo (Julian Isorena) and Knock2 (Richard Nakhonethap). By combining their extraordinary powers of bass, treble, and wub-wub-wubs, the duo have created one of the most interesting and dynamic EDM records of the year so far, and are proving to be a promising creative partnership.
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The opening track, “THRASH(PARTY STARTER),” is exactly that: a party starter. The blaring siren that opens the track welcomes a thrashing synth-worm that crawls deep into the listener’s ear and stays there for the entire project. The track sets an expectation for the sound palette of the record that the duo is savant enough to stick with and then subvert when tasteful. Additionally, the track sounds as if it would serve as an excellent opener for a live set due to its obvious flamboyance.
The next track “TROUBLE” showcases how in-tune the group is with current EDM trends and how much they want to create their own lane. In a medium dominated by bass and bass drops, these guys are screaming “Bump the treble!”, a sentiment that resounds with anyone going to EDM sets lately where sound guys pump the bass so loud that every set sounds like a two-hour celebration of the metronome. It might sound like heresy for many EDM enthusiasts, but after a three-day music festival, they’re going to appreciate ISOKNOCK for sounding different.
“ENERGY” kicks off a string of features that continues across the rest of the record. The first of which is Bantu, who brings his vocals and his flair for afrobeats to the track. This track thrives because of how different the percussion is compared to the rest of the record and yet manages to remain consistent with the project through its instrumentation and structure.
"4EVR" Album Art
The energy and rhythm transition into “PAIN,” which sees a return of the blaring siren from the opener, but it helps turn the track into “ENERGY” 's evil twin. The higher frequency elements of the track are frequently buried in the mix, almost as if they were EQ’d that way; that kind of sound envelope seems like a permanent fixture of the track until the end, when the up-to-this-point synthetic drums violently morph into what sounds like real drums, hammering the beat into your face.
“SMACK TALK” takes us right back to the beginning. Sitting atop a bed of haunting choir vocals, the opening siren eerily interrupts their haunting chanting. In this track, the duo takes time to develop the soundscape and stew in it. The atmosphere of the music is dark, yet fun; it’s as if they organized a rave in the post-apocalyptic world of James Cameron’s “Terminator.” The beeps and boops across this track are scary because they sound like laser blasts, and yet if I told someone I got my face melted off at a rave, they would be correct in assuming I had a good time.
Something that makes ISOKNOCK distinct is the way they employ live instrumentals into their dance music. This has been done a lot lately by contemporaries like Zhu and Nia Archives, but ISOKNOCK is able to apply it to their own method in a way that remains unique rather than derivative.
This is apparent across the tracks “SIGNAL” and “BLIND,” which feature singer/songwriter London Mars on vocals and Joey Falcone, who regularly plays for ISOxo, on guitar. That human element amid all the wubs and lasers gives the songs a wider range of texture that enriches the soundscape. Especially on “BLIND,” the guitar lead, soaked in glittery distortion, is what makes that song blossom as a ballad.
The final track “4EVR” brings together every element of the record: guitars, wubs, vocals, and rhythm together into a cohesive closer, but ultimately falls short of being a climactic ending. Especially in contrast to the scale of the opening track, “4EVA” feels like a filler song from the middle of a record. It’s a fine dance track, but a more conclusive closer would have been the cherry on top of this project.
Due to the suddenness of this project’s release and the fact that both these artists are so young and early in their careers, it’s befitting that the final track is unfulfilling and leaves us wanting more. For the benefit of the music world at large I hope they continue to collaborate.
“Pain is temporary, ISOKNOCK is 4EVR.”
