Hardliners – Pikke Poeli Mellow

"Pikke Poeli Mellow" is a spoof on a governmental ment against road speeding. In the original version, a car driver sees all kinds of things by at high speed, until he says "trekkertje" (little tractor) followed by a scared-to-death "TREKKERTJE???" and a collision. On this record, the little tractor is replaced by a little mellow... ;)

Original 1993 ad here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkZy88FXo74

Pikke Poeli Mellow is a very typical Rotterdam Gabber song, shouting Dutch vocals with a bouncy TR-909. The harsh synthesizer is there, but overall an unremarkable title track. I'm curious as to what Pikke Poeli means in Dutch, I can't imagine its a nice term. The good stuff is on the B-Side.

Motherfuckin' Breakbeat is probably the most played tune on this vinyl, and that's fair enough. In reality, it's a simple tune using its elements at the right places. The sturdy 909 kick sounds good and as the title suggests, there's a nice slab of UK Breakbeat. What's surprising here is the warm Pad that sounds lovely but not something you'd associate with Rotterdam Records, I like it anyway. The other sound is the simple but quick little synth riff that works quite well within the track. No doubt the track and the record as a whole got more exposure being on Thunderdome V, although I like it on the Thunderdome 1-5 Megamix (with a different kickdrum!) and the excellent Hardcore Rave Party mix by Mental Theo.

For me personally, Pure N.R.G is the hidden gem here. Considerably more slower then your usual Gabber music, the half speed intro is deceptive but the track quickly kicks into gear. Interestingly, even though its a staunchly Dutch label, Hardliners sample a German "eins, zwei, drei, vier" (1,2,3,4), why they did that is a mystery. The first breakdown has a raw and dirty keyboard riff that is great, plus you get loud Claps. Probably my favourite sound is the swirling synth that sounds like a clever manipulation of Sperminator's No Women Allowed. The dirty keyboard is placed under the swirling synth to add positively to the mix. Pure N.R.G is topped off with a tidy rendition of the Drummachine Rotterdam synth. With these three prominent sounds, you've got an exciting Gabber track that is hard to believe it was actually made in 1993. The Pure N.R.G vocal sample sounds like that American voiceover guy who did Hollywood movie trailers for decades. Edit, I found it: the sample is Spock from Star Trek in the 1967 episode Errand of Mercy.

This seems to be an early appearance of Koen Groeneveld & Addy van der Zwan, this talented duo would help Rotterdam Records owner, Paul Elstak , with his Happy Hardcore and make some club anthems especially under the name Klubbheads. It is interesting to see these guys making hard Gabber music under the very odd names of Shimrot and Sumic. Far out, that is an ugly record cover, but maybe that was intentional because its Rotterdam Records.

Pure N.R.G is a brilliant hardcore track and is only slightly bettered by the Motherfuckin Breakbeat tune which I think is a classic. DJ Clarkee played both these tracks at Dreamscape 9 in Plymouth (UK).