Dirtybird knows how to get its bass on. Led by Barclay Crenshaw, aka Claude VonStroke, the San Francisco-based label has been cranking out fun, bass-oriented dance music for seven years now. Hatched – Volume 1 is meant to be a look into the future. Based on the evidence here, the future looks pretty good.
House music ranging from old-school jack-your-body style to smooth’n’funky is on display over the dozen tracks. If you’re not on a dancefloor or into stuttering, sleazy come-ons such as Kill Frenzy’s “Booty Clap”, not everything here is going to work for you. But more often than not, it does. And, when it clicks, as on DJ Cra$y’s drum’n’bass epic “That Amen Track”, it really clicks. Time to jack, y’all.