The In And Out (Remix) 12" Maxi-Single, released in 1985 on Fundamental Records, is a crucial club artifact from the pinnacle of Executive Slacks' career. Acting as the premier single for their Nausea album cycle, the release was strategically designed to bridge the gap between underground industrial rock and the thriving European Electronic Body Music (EBM) club scene. By taking the album's opening track and expanding its structural framework to nearly six minutes, the band delivered a piece of vinyl specifically engineered for late-night dancefloors and pioneering alternative DJs.
Produced by Killing Joke’s Martin "Youth" Glover, the 12" release strips away any remaining indie-rock minimalism to embrace a heavier, club-ready architecture. The single smartly packages the extended, pulse-pounding A-side remix alongside the dense, mid-tempo grind of "Electric Blues" on the B-side. This distinct contrast effectively highlighted the band's dual nature: their ability to command a frantic synth-driven dancefloor while simultaneously plunging into avant-garde, sludge-laden sonic experiments.
The In And Out (Remix) 12" is a magnificent showcase of how production can entirely recontextualize a band's core identity for the dancefloor without losing an ounce of their inherent venom. Where the standard album version felt like a tense, tightly wound clock, this extended 12" remix transforms the track into a sprawling, sweat-drenched ritual of mechanical hypnosis. Youth's production work shines brilliantly here, giving the rhythm section an imposing, room-shaking weight that demands to be played through a massive club sound system rather than domestic speakers.
The A-side remix immediately grabs the listener with a significantly beefed-up electronic kick drum and a much cleaner, more dynamic synth-bass sequence. By elongating the track's introductory build-up, the remix allows the groove to lock into a weaponized, repetitive rhythm that functions beautifully as a proto-EBM weapon. Over this driving digital grid, Matt Marello’s deadpan vocal delivery cuts through the mix like a laser, echoing themes of isolation and urban psychosis that contrast sharply with the track's infectious, high-octane energy.
Plunging into the B-side, the inclusion of "Electric Blues" reminds the listener exactly how versatile Executive Slacks could be during their mid-80s creative peak. The song completely sheds the club tempos of the A-side in favor of a lumbering, heavily distorted industrial crawl that feels remarkably heavy for 1985. It serves as a brilliantly ugly counterweight to the remix, ensuring the 12" single feels like a complete artistic statement rather than a shallow, commercial marketing exercise.
Ultimately, this maxi-single remains an essential historical link in the evolution of industrial-dance and darkwave music. It captures a rare moment where American punk hostility, British post-punk production prowess, and continental European synth rhythms aligned flawlessly. Decades after its initial pressing, the In And Out (Remix) stands as a testament to the band's raw power and a mandatory spin for any serious collector of classic industrial vinyl.
Ripped to MP3
Side A: "In And Out (Remix)" (5:42) — An extended, more rhythmically dynamic version that punches up the drum patterns and electronic sequencing for club play.
Side B: "Electric Blues" (5:28) — The exact heavy, lumbering industrial-blues composition taken straight from the second side of the Nausea LP.
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