Darren Rock and Darren House, aka DJ / production duo Rocky and Diesel, are no doubt more widely, globally, known, as X-Press 2. A project that they launched in 1992, together with Ashley Beedle, with the UK house classic, Muzik Xpress, an insanely energetic collision of London Balearic and Chicago wild pitch. The venture’s adventure peaking perhaps, in 2002, with their chart topping, Ivor Novello Award winning,  Lazy, a collaboration with former Talking Head, David Byrne.

Along the way they’ve moonlighted under several different monikers and aliases. Most – the dub-disco of 7th Movement, the deep, dark Submission, Darksyde – designed for Junior Vasquez’s Sound Factory – and the Detroit-leaning Haze, appeared on spin-offs, sub-labels, of Junior Boys Own – Jus’ Trax, and Collect Boys Own – an organisation that they were at the heart of. 

Back in 1990, the Darrens were residents at The Yellow Book, a Friday night in Covent Garden that was effectively Boys Own Fanzine’s unofficial club house. Spinning sounds that could be found in the magazine’s Top Tunes charts. This was a shindig frequented by football faces and indie-rock pop stars – and the connections made resulted in the pair remixing first The Farm – bringing Allen Ginsberg’s beat poetry to the post-second summer of love party – and then banging hippie collective, The Moonflowers, up against The Barkays and Jimi Hendrix for Jeff Barratt’s Heavenly Recordings. 

For a second they were Soundcraft, and The Movement, The Message, hid Gilles Peterson favourite, Nancy Ames’ Cacara, inside a proggy 4 / 4, while smoking some bad weed with Skunk. Another one-off was Transplant, which featured a tonic for Auntie Audrey Witherspoon. A mad, delayed, 303 / jazz workout made with Andrew Weatherall in mind. This 12 also laid the foundations for the eclectic experiments of The Ballistic Brothers, performed once again with Ashley, plus Uschi Classen and Nuphonic Records’ David Hill (1). It’s been a minute, however, since X-press 2 had a new record out. Skint released their previous long-player, The House Of X-Press 2, in 2012, but now Acid Jazz have licensed the follow-up, Thee. 

The eleven tracks on the album pack no pretensions. This isn’t some kind of showreel, demonstrating the pair’s genre-jumping agility, but rather pure, unapologetic peak-time dancefloor stuff. Bloom is bouncy, bass-driven jack. Creating its drama by dropping percussion fills, and tinkling ivories, in and out. Its strings, phased and twisted in a nod to old school Detroit, it builds to a banger before you know it. I Can See The Love is tonking tribal techno. Fine afro-futurism. Its lead vocal fragmented into a looped and filtered chant. Cope makes like Ashley’s Black Science Orchestra and updates the sound of Philadelphia International. Has it pumped, `roided up. Mutating, morphing, mirrorball opulence swirling about an arrangement that also salutes those early wild pitch-influenced smashes. Despite being strictly machined, something in the music is very soulful, reflecting the backgrounds of its aural auteurs. Pre-acid house, Rocky came up, through hip hop, DJing soul at Simon Dunmore, ex- of Defected’s West London events. Diesel earned his stripes warming up for Gilles Peterson at places like Richmond’s Belvedere Arms, and Nicky Holloway’s Special Branch doos. 

Moov still kicks, but is more meditative. Its gear glitches giving off harp-like glissandos. Muse has haunting ethereal harmonies warm its rigid robotic rhythm. Phasing You Out is a huge potential pop crossover moment. A proper song, that deals with dodgy friends, and lovers. Its rave-y repetition an homage, perhaps, to the garage-ier end of Underground Resistance’s catalogue. The sunshine-filled sides on their Happy Records. The Rain is also a fully fledged song. A little acid gently bubbling, burbling, beneath a chorus of sighing sirens / angels.

Werq locks into a Cajmere / Cajual groove. Recalling Relief Records artists such as Gemini and Tim Harper. High-pitched sine waves / signals providing its hook. You Know (Everybody) stamps and stomps like a barmy, crazy batucada. A carnival street band conniption fit, complete with whistles and Roberto de Simone-like operatic screams and shouts. Zeven’s keys mimic screaming funk guitars, These pieces are all sort of pared back to basics, but sleek, smooth, polished, boompty boomp. The sampled vocals, often reduced to hypnotic snippets, throughout seem gospel-flavoured. The profane made sacred, where a crowded club is the church and congregation. A place of ritual and worship then. Thee.

X-Press 2’s Thee is out now, on Acid Jazz. Also check the duo’s dynamite remix of David Kitt, on ReWarm. Ballistic Brothers feel-good classic, Blacker, is about to be reissued, again on Acid Jazz.