Sometimes a record’s purpose is refreshingly simple. The Mad WOW E.P. lands as a collaborative debut from 909 RIOT and Carl Shorts, and it wastes no time on pleasantries. There are just two tracks here, each one fine-tuned for those moments when a dancefloor needs to tip into something darker and less forgiving.
The title cut works with stripped mechanics and marching percussion, the low-end carving out a narrow corridor for the drums to do their work. No breakdowns that pull the energy away, no unnecessary melodics. Instead it pushes forward with the kind of streamlined intensity that feels designed for peak-hour deployment, where the right track can lock a room into a single, relentless pulse.
Flip it and the mood shifts into stranger territory. Suit Yourself moves on an acid line that creeps rather than shouts, more writhing synth work coiled around a tight, percussive frame. It is not the neon-bright acid of old rave, but something colder; a slow-build tension that holds its nerve rather than releasing it too quickly. Across both cuts, the production sticks to the rules of classic hard techno, not the drop-heavy festival variant, but the raw, rolling club pressure that trusts its own groove enough to let it run.
Resilient Recordings continues to carve out space for music that does not need over-explaining. For DJs hunting material with old underground weight, this EP provides two reliable sides that get straight to work.
Buy / Listen: https://www.beatport.com/release/mad-wow/6841676
