And then there were two. Expanding on the first Pulse EP, this second volume continues the world-building and growing number of aliases that were the band’s bread and butter at the time.
The most immediate addition is the inclusion of the first track by Smart Systems, Dougans and Cobain’s self-described “intense industrial rave machine”. Smart Systems would go on to be one of the few early projects to feature on numerous releases over the years, and even provide occasional remix duties. FSOL and Indo Tribe return from the first volume, resulting in three artists over four tracks, FSOL being the project to provide two. Both of these would end up on Accelerator and, in keeping with ‘Pulse State’ from the previous EP, are more complex and mature sounding than the two ravier tracks accompanying them.
To be fair, both Smart System and Indo Tribe tracks mark another step up in production, with more sections, layers and unusual sounds than earlier alias tracks. Despite the reasons behind the continual changing of names and high release rate – in Garry’s words, “we had to keep up a steady stream of releases to survive” – this period of rapid and continual reinvention kept them on their toes and gave them opportunity to continue to up their game in the production stakes. For listeners, the period offered a rare chance to hear the development of the band’s sound every couple of months.
As with the first EP, all tracks feature mix titles, which were dropped by the time the two FSOL tracks made it to Accelerator. Unusually, the mix titles are only present on the 12″ labels, giving the rear sleeve a more conventional tracklist. Track 3 is listed as ‘Innate’ on the sleeve, and ‘In 8′ on the label. Never let it be said they do things the easy way. The cover itself continues the black and white theme of the previous EP, but with much more involving graphics, a style of Buggy’s that would be used on a large number of Jumpin’ & Pumpin’ 12″s as his work began to prove very popular.
More aliases and world building elements appear in the credits section. Luco is listed as producer of ‘Stolen Documents’, while all other tracks feature production by Mental Cube. Yage is absent again, with Mental Cube also providing engineering duties. This seemingly one-off credit, denoted with an asterisk, is particularly intriguing as it feels like a genuine attempt to make it seem like there were more people involved in the creation of these tracks than just Brian and Garry. The Buggy G. Riphead name reappears, credited for “profile control”, rather than simply artwork. He and “all at Freaky Deek Records” are “thnaked” [sic], once again suggesting a larger group of people working together. Freaky Deek was, in fact, a posited record label that they might start, but ended up simply another aspect of the strange FSOL world. As Garry told Music Technology Magazine in 1992, “it’s kind of like we’re two guys here, it’s really not that interesting, but with these different names we can pretend there’s a bit of a scene down here!” The Freaky Deek logo states “Pluto boy meets nano magnetic. Freaky Deek Profile Control”, a very 1991 set of words. More interestingly is the logo next to it, a sphere surrounded by radiating diagonal lines, with the words “Earth Beat” underneath it. Named after their studio, the Earthbeat logo would go on to grace almost every release of theirs from this moment forth. With each release, you can see the FSOL world growing, bit-by-bit. Tim Jones reappears as executive producer for the first time since A.S.T.. And, in full on nerd territory, the release is notable for being the first time Cobain’s first name appears as Garry, with two ‘r’s.
Ultimately, Pulse Two feels like another bold step forward, towards what we now recognise as The Future Sound of London. As the third release in a row that would introduce important aspects of the wider FSOL approach, it feels part of a time of huge creativity from the band, and one that resulted in some of their best early material. No surprise that these EPs were compiled on CD in 2008. Interestingly, ‘Zip Code (Stress Ball Mix)’ appears on The Pulse EPs in an edited version, playing a minute shorter than the 12″ version.
Release date: 1991.
Tracklist:
12″ (12TOT 14)
A1. The Future Sound of London – Stolen Documents (Jazz Dub)
A2. Smart Systems – Zip Code (Stress Ball Mix)
B1. The Future Sound of London – Innate / In 8 (W-O-W Mix)
B2. Indo Tribe – I’ve Become What You Were (Insider Mix)
Credits
Written by Brian Dougans / Garry Cockbain.
Produced and engineered by Mental Cube.
‘Stolen Documents (Jazz Dub)’ produced by Luco.
All tracks recorded and mixed at Earthbeat Studios, London 1991.
Executive producer Tim Jones.
Thanks Buggy G Riphead – Profile Control and all at Freaky Deek Records.
Fractional Difference 
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