FACTORY FLOOR - TWO DIFFERENT WAYS

True to their name, London trio Factory Floor make the kind of clattering, gloomy electronic music that’s associated with famed UK label Factory Records’ incredible 1980s run. Up to this point, the band’s shown a predilection for industrial antagonism— brittle synths, irregular post-punk rhythmic figures, hollowed-out noise, and dead-eyed vocals reminiscent of coldwave’s brutal malaise. If you get the call from DFA, then, you better clean yourself up and make something that bangs like the Hacienda on a good night; accordingly, the band’s single for the label, “Two Different Ways”, steps up to the challenge. Factory Floor’s songs are long, regularly running well over the six-minute mark, and “Two Different Ways” is no different, stretching its legs over eight well-paced minutes. The synths draw huge, arpeggiated circles within circles, while metallic drum machines rattle in and around Nik Colk’s incantatory vocals. For a group that’s done well with abandon for years now, “Two Different Ways” impresses because of its sheer restraint, as Factory Floor take time to burn down what they’ve built so that everything evenly, excellently smolders.

By Larry Fitzmaurice; November 10, 2011

Pitchfork