Sometimes, even with success, it takes a while to actually get it right. Vocalist Karl Hyde and guitarist Rick Smith first dallied with success as part of the 80’s band Freur, who had a minor hit with “Doot Doot,” a heavily synthesized ballad that would’ve sounded swell on the soundtrack of just about any teenage cinematic romp from the era. After reforming as Underworld, the pair again hit the charts with the danceable, New Wave-ish “Underneath the Radar,” which was good enough for use in an episode of Miami Vice. In the 90’s, going nowhere fast, the duo recruited DJ Darren Emerson, who revamped Underworld’s sound into an electronic groove—shortly after, the band went on to become one of the most influential acts in the electronica genre. Which brings us to arguably Underworld’s best album, 1996’s Second Toughest in the Infants.

Second Toughest in the Infants is built around three tracks (or, six songs, since the first two tracks consist of three and two different songs respectively.) “Pearls Girl” is the album’s strongest cut, and is pretty much everything you’d ever want to hear in an electronica tune. Hyde’s stream of consciousness vocals are backed by a groovy dance beat, ambient synthesizers, throbbing synthesizers, and all sorts of nifty electronic additions to fill it out. It is, in essence, intense, without the in-your-face intensity of techno music. “Juanita: Kiteless: To Dream of Love” all morph seamlessly into one another to make for one extended 16:37 track. “Juanita,” for instance, is a basic percussion and keyboard track that builds itself with the addition of subtle keyboards and rhythm guitar riffs from Smith; while it’s not as intense as “Pearls Girl,” it does manage to build itself into a certain amount of intensity before becoming “Kiteless.” “Kiteless offers up quirky, throbbing electronics as it picks up where “Juanita” left off (and so effortless is the shift that it’s hard to imagine that it’s a completely different song.) “To Dream of Love” finally introduces us to Hyde’s vocals as he sings over a repetitive, electronic bass loop and tinkling keyboards. The three songs together make for an epic electronic listening experience and a smart opening to the album.

“Banstyle: Sappys Curry,” being only two songs, is only about a minute shorter than the CD opener. It’s also much mellower as Emerson settles into an electronic groove on “Banstyle.” And if “Banstyle” can be considered “mellow,” “Sappys Curry” seems even more so, thanks to Hyde’s near-whispered vocals and distant, repetitive percussion.

Of course, you might ask, isn’t the rest of the album just filler, then? It’s a fair enough question. Depending upon how you define “filler,” the rest of the songs are crucial to the flow of the album, and therefore really don’t fall into the filler category. “Confusion the Waitress,” for instance, in addition to being a cool song title, is a stripped down, near-ambient piece of electronica that features Hyde’s spoken word vocals—had he attempted to sing instead of talk, it wouldn’t have been as effective (and maybe he did try to sing the lyrics on a demo, and the band found that it would be better if he simply spoke the lyrics. And “Rowla” is an upbeat, quirky instrumental full of distorted, swirling keyboards that makes for an effective lead in to “Pearls Girl.” And sure, “Air Towel” might be considered a throwaway tune, what with its oddball synth loop, but does have a fairly groovy dance beat underneath it to make it worth recommending.

Second Toughest in the Infants is pretty much an electronica masterpiece, something that all artists in the genre should aspire to. If you’re an electronica fan and don’t own this, or if you’ve merely forgotten about it, then Second Toughest in the Infants should be at the top of your must-purchase list.

Recommended: Yes