World Domination Enterprises - Let's Play Domination (Album Review)

 

World Domination Enterprises - Let’s Play Domination

(1988)

My copy: 1988 press by Caroline Records.

The first and only true full-length from London’s own World Domination Enterprises, Let’s Play Domination is as enigmatic as it is utterly chaotic. Featuring 13 shorter tracks, the album is composed mostly of biting mid-tempo post-punk/noise-rock sounds though the songwriting itself dips into a variety of genres. There are also three tongue-in-cheek covers on the record, ranging from hip-hop to dub music. 

Grimey bass is the precursor to the hurtling whirlwind of agonized guitar screeching on “Message For You People”: a track that perfectly introduces their signature guitar tone. You could convince most that they had just thrown the live guitar into a woodchipper and recorded that sound instead, but listening closely proves that the guitars are more engaged than one might suspect. The rhythm section becomes dejected and sour on “Blu Money” where the lyrics focus on poverty and drug use. Clearly having attended the schools of both Chrome and Swell Maps, World Domination Enterprises dial up the uncaring attitudes of their noisy forefathers, creating one of the filthiest moods in this style. “Trouble Enough” mounts an attack of heavy bass as the guitar flickers overhead like sparks raining from industrial equipment. 

“I Can’t Live Without My Radio” is, of course, a cover of L.L. Cool J  as one should expect from a British noise-rock record. The maddening truth is that this cover is actually a ton of fun as the American rap hit is transformed in a way that could only be achieved via a classic bout of British cheekiness. Chorus or phaser effects warp “Look Out Jack” in a sea of guitar over hard-to-follow psycho-billy rhythms and shouts. “Hotsy Girl” is loose and bordering on incomprehensible while “Ghetto Queen” violates blues tropes. 

The holy grail of this record is the main original single “Asbestos Lead Asbestos” which allows every single positive aspect of the album's aesthetic to perfectly combine for a few minutes. The bass is steady and menacing, the drums accentuate the vocals perfectly and the guitar is at its peak with destructive blasts of crackling, metallic energy. The vocal melodies are catchy with lyrics centered on corporate greed - if you are to hear one song by this band in your life, let it be this one for the love of God: it is potentially the most underrated noise-rock song ever. “That Woman” then dips back into blues before the band covers U-Roy’s reggae hit “Jah Jah Call You” with clashing rhythm melodies and guitar-noise buildups. 

The vocal performance on “Ragamuffin Man” is certainly stimulating if not too ridiculous before the wild, almost human sounding guitar cries on “Built Man.” “The Stack That Blew Jack” is a stilted parody of rock that oozes sarcasm, which isn’t in short supply as the band rounds the album out with a cover of “Funkytown.” The U-Roy cover is probably the least compelling, but their take on “Funkytown” has just the right amount of piss and vinegar, especially in the manic vocal deliveries, to make it into a fun take. 

Let’s Play Domination is a bizarre album by all rights, though it is a sorely overlooked piece of heavy guitar experimentation. Though not nearly as ambitious as Chrome or other fellow post-punkers, the artists here are unafraid of crashing and burning. While some songs are very much an acquired taste, hearing “Asbestos Lead Asbestos” for the first time is the sonic equivalent of being bombarded with steel poles: and it’s a feeling you’ll find yourself oddly addicted to.