The Muscle The Beets vinyl

Despite having a name suspiciously close to the US alt rock band responsible for the theme song for The O.C., Phantom Planet Outlaws are in fact purveyors of particularly fine acid techno, and on this spilt EP for Ireland's Apartment label, they find themselves going up against the equally driving TR One. Phantom Planet Outlaws' "HTG" pairs symphonic Detroit-inspired pads with a turbulent acid bassline reminiscent of the classic '90s acid house heyday, while the prickly textures of "Green Light" sound like a slippery Berghain take on acid techno. TR One give as good as they get with "Viceroy 9c", which channels early Metroplex material with its sci-fi backdrop and stomping bleep arrangement, while "Huguenot Burial Ground 1733" is as foreboding as its name suggests, cloaking its distant percussion and subtle bassline under a cloud of spectral fog.