A side-project of AcumenNation frontman Jason Novak and guitarist Jamie Duffy, DJ? Acucrack is one of the most powerful and technically competent techno-assaults in recent memory. The music is fast and furious, but doesn't lose melody or suffer from a lack of focus even at 120+bpm. Their first releases were an EP CD and 12 inch Nation State out on Slipdisc Records subsidiary Lost in Bass plus a full-length album Mutants of Sound on the same label. Notably, Mutants knocked England's Propellerheads from the top of the CMJ Dance Chart in the spring of '98. The first Chicago #1 on that chart in recent memory. Additionally, the 12" got lots of spins in dance clubs on both coasts as well as here in the Windy City. 
Though the music is all electronic, a la The Chemical Brothers and Underworld, Novak's and Duffy's experience in their industrial band Acumen Nation, has lent them considerable song-writing skill and enabled them to avoid a lot of the fluff the infects most techno music. Novak has a keen ear for quirky but appropriate samples and great skill at incorporating them into the song structure rather than sticking them on top as an after-thought. They also deliver a fantastic and energetic live show--probably another bonus from their years of experience in a hard-working industrial rock band...
More recently, the duo released Sorted on E-Magine records in November 2000. And once again, the hometown boys made good, knocking Underworld out of the top spot on the CMJ dance chart. Sorted features much of the same inspired sampling, synth groove and drum machine madness (plus a little live skin pounding from Ethan Novak) as earlier Crack releases, though with the notable addition of a bit of hip-hop inspiration; Novak provides passable speed-rap vocals on numerous tracks. The highlight however, is the guest lead vocals of Toni Halliday (of English techno-industrial act Curve) on "So to Speak." All in all another inspired effort from one of the last Chicago bands keeping the post Wax Trax! techno-industrial fires burning.
For more information, visit their website: http://www.cracknation.com
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