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"It's the same series of signals over and over again," a disembodied voice exclaims at the start of "Interstellar Hardrive." And so it is (mostly)! B-movie banter,
Rezillos riffs, space-age sonic madness, frantic surf-guitar runs, sci-fi steals, valiant
Ventures valedictions, scrambled transmission signals, myopic vocals, and flaming televisual heads--and that's only the first three tracks. This time around, however, the retro-future outfit with about 50 releases to their credit expand into near-techno territory (check out the excellent, spooky "Domain of the Human Race" and full-on silver-jumpsuit fest of "Engines of Difference"). "Psychology of A.I. (Numbers Follow Answers)," meanwhile, is unrequited fuzzy punk. In all, a fully realized album, and definitely one of Man or Astro-Man?'s finest moments.
--Everett True
Product Description
Their 1999 masterpiece. A monumental undertaking where an intriguing mixture of electronic experimentation arises within a live band setting.For those old enough to remember the following bands, the best way to summarize Man or Astro-Man? is to describe their sound as a cross between the Ventures and Devo. For those not old enough, the band plays primarily instrumental rock & roll influenced by the instrumental surf music of the 1960s (Ventures, Dick Dale) and music (and stories) from cheesy '50s/'60s/'70s science-fiction movies. The accelerated, streamlined punk rock of the Ramones is also evident. They use bits of dialogue "sampled" from some of the sci-fi films you might see on late-night TV (or the cable-network show "Mystery Science Theater 2000"). Those who like their rock music fast, irreverent, without too much polish (though MoA-M certainly aren't sloppy--far from it), noisy and careening out of control, EEVIAC will take you where few have gone before.
--This text refers to the
Vinyl
edition.
