If techno were a candy, "Jawbreakerz" would be the one that cracks your teeth before it melts in your mouth. Dublin duo The DirtBirdz return with an eight-track EP on Sonic Distrackt that is equal parts sugar rush and concrete slab, serving five pummeling originals and three remixes that trace the fault lines of underground techno with the precision of a wrecking ball.

From the opening blast of “909 Jawbreaker”, it’s clear the duo aren’t interested in subtle introductions. Percussion ricochets like loose bolts in a factory, while stabbing synths spar with the kick in a way that makes you wonder if your speakers have started plotting mutiny. “FR8 Train” continues the industrial metaphors literally, a mechanized groove that feels like being tied to the tracks while the locomotive barrels through. Then comes “Bass BangEr”, a cheeky nod to jacking house tropes but driven through the DirtBirdz’ grinder until it emerges distorted, swaggering, and oddly funky - like a bouncer who also moonlights as a breakdancer.

“Uncle Charly” is where the duo get nostalgic, dialing up the haze of early rave culture with distorted kicks and stabs that sound like they’ve been smuggled straight from a forgotten 1992 warehouse. But the EP’s real pivot is “XTC”, the deepest and most hypnotic of the originals, with acid lines wriggling like neon worms in a storm drain, offering a kind of subterranean euphoria rather than the high-gloss peak-time smash.

The remixes extend this palette rather than dilute it. Label bosses Brotherhood of the Wolf take “Bass BangEr” in two directions: first, an industrial behemoth bristling with drones and oppressive low-end; then, a dub version that strips it back to hypnotic stabs and rolling percussion, proving minimalism can be just as crushing as maximalism. Finally, JCIE’s remix of “XTC” slows things down, pulling the track apart until it feels like a dream of a rave rather than the thing itself - like hearing it seep through the walls of the club from the outside.

What makes "Jawbreakerz" compelling isn’t just its technical heft (though there’s plenty of that) but the way it manages to wear its influences openly without feeling derivative. Early ’90s rave culture, hard-edged industrial techno, acid squiggles, warehouse hypnosis - they’re all in the cauldron, but The DirtBirdz stir with a grin, letting humor and playfulness peek through the concrete. Even the titles - “FR8 Train”, “Uncle Charly” - suggest they know this music is as much about cheek as it is about pounding the floor.

In the end, "Jawbreakerz" is a record built for clubs that still reek of smoke machines, sticky floors, and 5 a.m. delirium, but it’s also smart enough to toy with those tropes rather than just replicate them. It’s techno with both fists up and tongue firmly in cheek - unrelenting, but with a wink.