Available on: Arma EP, YounGunZ digital

‘Predador’

‘Senta’

Over in France, there’s a collective called YounGunZ, who describe themselves as “a bunch of guys who decided to ruin your nights.” Both foreign and noisy, they’re clearly the stuff of the Daily Mail’s nightmares, but for me this crew is making some of the best house music around.

The main members of YounGunZ are Alan Gay, Lazy Flow, Digikid84, Riot Kid and French Fries – the last two of whom  are still in their teens, and are extraordinarily good. The Arma EP is French Fries’ first digital release, and comes with remixes from Tomb Crew, Bok Bok and BeatauCue, but it’s the original tracks here, ‘Predador’ and ‘Senta’ that hit hardest.

‘Predador’ starts off with tightly-wound clicks and snares, then rolls into a rattling groove that recalls DVA’s recent Hyperdub single ‘Natty’ while wafer-thin synths shoot overhead like flares. By the time you hit the drop, it’s all contextualized in forest carnival vibes with some serious bass hits; the sort of thing Buraka Som Sistema would love.

Whether it’s Claude VonStroke or Vato Gonzalez, some of the best dance music seriously pushes the boundaries of taste, and ‘Senta’ is no different, building main melodies with vocal samples pitch-shifted beyond recognition. Really, ‘Senta’ is just those vocal lines, thumping drums and some shuffling snares, so it’s a bit of a minimal masterpiece really.

Of course, if you’re the sort of person who’d describe yourself as being into minimal, you’d probably find it pretty stupid – but then you’re probably also the sort of person whose night YounGunZ would love to ruin. Touché.

Tom Lea