Pariah - Caterpillar EP [VOAM009] Pariah returns with one of the summer's most jaw-dropping dance

[Celerity]

floor hits.

https://ra.co/reviews/34948

It's difficult to remember the last time Pariah made straightforward dance music on his own. As Karenn (his duo with Blawan), he puts out trance-tinged techno but his last solo record was his ambient-ish debut album from 2018, Here from Where We Are. Caterpillar is the first time he's put out a traditional dance music record since 2012, and with one massive track already played out by renowned DJs, it feels like a throwback to that era's endless creativity and gleeful hype.

Released on Voam, the weirdo techno label he runs with Blawan, Caterpillar covers a lot of territory in three tracks. It falls broadly under the techno umbrella, but each cut has its own distinct personality and mood. The standout is the already-rinsed title track—if you've been out over the past two months, you've probably heard it somewhere. "Caterpillar" is a heater that chugs on for seven minutes, with modular psychedelia and sharp analogue stabs carrying us along. Its defining core, though, is the unbelievably massive bassline and square-wave squelchiness that brings to mind sandworms from the Dune ecosystem rather than a caterpillar. It's a prime cut for breaking open a techno set or hitting the gas on an open-ended mix.

"Frogspawn" is something else entirely: springy, upbeat with a playful, flute-like melody that keeps it bubbly, and just the subtlest note of hyperpop. Turning left once again, "One On One" is a speedy electro number with sensual vocals and glitchy modulations with a whiff of Detroit.

All three tracks feel like they're revisiting an earlier time, particularly the early '00s. There’s a sense of going back to basics, but also a distinctly new feeling, perhaps even a sense of reinvention. The EP offers classic sounds with a twist—and Pariah too, is showing us a side of his sound that we haven’t heard in a while. Caterpillar was well worth the wait.