Man...Or Astroman?, EEVIAC: Operational Index & Reference Guide... (Touch and Go) 9
Imagine that some space aliens caught some wandering early-60s radio broadcasts of instrumental surf guitar like Link Wray, Dick Dale, Duane Eddy, The Ventures and The Shadows. They dug the grooves and decided to find the source. During their trip to Earth they caught broadcasts of a few Devo videos, and after landing not far from Sun Ra's crash site in Alabama (?!), they impersonated geeky college students and formed a rock 'n' roll band. On their latest album, Man or Astroman? have become more than just a novelty/nostalgia act. While their music continues to be based on instrumental surf rock, and they continue to sample dialogue from science fiction films, the futuristic sound effects and synthesizers are more integrated into the music. Think of the noisy, sample-heavy space rock of Chrome and sped-up surf punk of Agent Orange in a nitrous oxide-enhanced tussle. Taking inspiration from labelmates The Jesus Lizard and Shellac, the band has mixed up the rhythms to create a satisfyingly disorientating and hypnotic experience, as on "A reversal of polarity." While they have released over a half dozen albums since 1993, this is their most varied and interesting. And if you become hooked on that space-surf groove, there is plenty more where this came from in their other albums. As the sample in the beginning of the albums states, "It's the same series of signals over and over again!" Take a ride into infinity with your favorite spacemen.
