What intrigue lurks behind those curtains? Dummy was the future sound of British Noir, using the musical vocabulary of the time to pull off the retro thing, without a hint of artiface or pretension. From the dub and turntablist gestures, a nod to the shoegazer ethic of My Bloody Valentine and the odd move copped from Ennio Morricone, Dusty Springfield and grud knows how many Hammer horror movies, what emerged was a unique style which they refined even further on their self-titled followup, which someone described as the soundtrack to The Thunderbirds According To H P Lovecraft. At the time the lynchpin tracks "Sour Times", "Numb" and "Glory Box" sounded like nothing else on radio; even "Hell Around The Corner" by Bristol compadre Tricky, which utilised the same Isaac Hayes sample as "Glory Box" sounds half-baked in comparison. Essential.