Juan For All, Aux For One

Aux 88 - Electrotechno
(From Electrotechno EP; 1996)


On one hand, it could be argued that Aux 88 were sorta like a Jurassic 5 of Motor City Electro: retro-fetishists plundering a sound that had long since passed into history for their whole M.O. On the other hand, Detroit Electro was a sound which withered and died far too quickly in the '80s, leaving relatively few records for the headz who wanted to transform their Ford Fiestas into Cosmic Cars. Thus, the Aux lads' music felt very necessary when ya host first heard songs like Electrotechno, I Need To Freak and the Take Control remix of Electronic Warfare during their live set at Manchester's Bugged Out club night during the summer of 1996. They performed for a full hour in their trademark Michelin Man bubblegooses on a molten-hot night, and you've gotta respect any group who'll sweat out half their body weight just to maintain their look onstage.

Ironically, Aux 88 ended up being a decade too futuristic for their own good: they came to the UK during Gazza's gymnastics of Euro 1996 when they'd have been far better suited to Peter Crouch's robot-dancing of the 2006 world cup.