Rave Review: Air Max ‘97 - Fool’s Errand

The Nike Air Max 97 is an iconic piece of footwear: a wavy upper, full-length air cushioning, and maybe the first to take sneakers from the gym to the runway. Air Max '97 channels the same sleek aerodynamics on their new EP, Fool’s Errand, crafting tracks that feel streamlined, physical, and constantly in motion.

These tunes hit like sneaker soles skidding across hardwood. The energy recalls a pickup basketball game pushed into overdrive: raw skill on display, amateur competition turning feral, bodies move at a rapid clip. The ball ricochets off the floor, feet juke back and forth, and the rhythms seem to briefly suspend gravity altogether. This could easily soundtrack the most impossibly badass AND1 mixtape ever committed to tape.

What makes the release so striking is its sheer physicality. Midway cut “Strange Attractor” sounds like a humanoid robot breaking into a sprint without ever having been programmed to run — all skittering limbs, clattering mechanics, and unstable momentum as it barrels toward maximum velocity. Every percussion hit feels tactile, metallic, almost dangerously kinetic.

At the same time, these are some of the most danceable tracks of Air Max ’97’s already laudable career. Earlier releases often impressed through pure mechanical ingenuity, but Fool’s Errand adds a stronger sense of bodily movement. “Mist For The Grill” pairs its twitching machinery with an underlying tribal pulse that relentlessly drives the track forward, setting the stage for something primal on the dancefloor. Likewise, the title track injects a spring-loaded club bounce that feels designed to whip a room into motion.

What ultimately ties the EP together is its obsessive attention to sound design. Every texture feels sculpted with immaculate precision, down to the smallest scrape or pneumatic hiss. It highlights something electronic music listeners often take for granted: the labor of inventing new sonic forms. A solid techno or house groove is one thing, but artists like Air Max ’97 remind us that the genre moves forward because certain producers are willing to reshape its very materials. Fool’s Errand doesn’t just refine existing templates — it sounds like it’s building new ones in real time.

(The Lunatic is an Austin, Texas–based raver spreading the good word through his reviews and blog—and by selling the wildest fucking electronic vinyl around.)