This is a review of "When Machines Hit Back" recorded by Electric Street Police. The review was written by Matthew Walton in 2006.

Are you one of those people who used to be into the dance scene but then drifted slowly but surely into the indie revolution? I know I am, dance was my first love, and it will be my last. As much as I like the wealth of new talent, Kaisers, Arctic monkeys, Editors etc. etc. dance is still running through my veins, but until now I hadn’t found an accomplice to provide the intravenous drip needed to extract my hidden feelings. Step forward Electric Street Police and their first offering “When Machines Hit Back”.

The name is captivating, the graphics intriguing and the composition groundbreaking. These ingredients all mix together incredibly well, resulting in a dance orientated, distinctive tune that combines string breakdowns of epic proportions, mixed with a beat that as Sonny and Cher so rightly said, would go on and on. If marks were given out on this song alone then a definite five stars were on offer, however, as my last girlfriend recently told me, things started off so well and then went down hill.

The next two songs are, like losing your virginity, a bit of a letdown. After such a blinding introduction the tempo drops to tunes not easily embraced and a little too mellow and bland. According to ESP’s website, they aim their tracks at “advertising/promotional purposes and film/video games as soundtracks”. I suppose the tunes could work in those domains, but as an effort aimed at the listening public, best left alone.

In conclusion, plenty of potential, they just need to concentrate on one market, in my opinion the faster dance floor tunes.