This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
This U.K. electronica duo have been unfairly trapped in the shadow of The Chemical Brothers for years.
Their debut Dead Elvis came on the heels of the Chems’ Dig Your Own Hole, lumping them in as Big Beat bandwagon-jumpers. Even worse, they opened for the Bros on tour. Now, it seems they’re trailing Tom and Ed again. Like Surrender, Contino Sessions finds the Death dudes forsaking the dance-floor for pop psychedelia, dishing up a platter of dark, dramatically dreamy rock that invokes the spirits of My Bloody Valentine and the jaded decadence of early-’70s Rolling Stones. Guest vocalists from Jesus And Mary Chain and Primal Scream — not to mention Iggy Pop, who chillingly croons about serial killers, no less — don’t hurt a bit. Whether it’s all enough to give Death In Vegas a winning hand, however, is another story.
