‘Second Toughest in the Infants’ is the band’s second, spectacular attempt at making big, important rave music, and their second with young fusionist DJ Darren Emerson helping steer the ship (frontman Karl Hyde and Rick Smith had been making music, in one style or another, since the early ‘80s).
The album holds up marvelously, dominated by the shapeshifting opening tracks but also featuring fan- favorite ‘Confusion the Waitress’ and the stupefying ‘Pearl’s Girl’. Underworld made a point of going deeper, and carrying on for longer, than most bands would dare; they’re worthy this reissue that does the same.