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Man Or Astro-man? That is the question. After dutiful consideration, our fine panel of judges deems them somewhere in between. |
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Gold Star Man Or Astro-man?
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With a title like that you expect something pretty trippy, and to a certain extent you get it. Man or Astro-Man? peddle surf music and they do so with a confident swagger. A Spectrum of Infinite Scale is basically a collection of assorted instrumental workouts, with very little attention paid to things like structure or commercialism. We get jangly guitar lines mixed up with screechy computer effects and some weird samples. The albums centre-piece is without doubt the only track to contain any sort of vocals, Within One Universe There Are Millions, despite the fact that the said singing is drenched in a vocoder type effect. This song shines through and makes me wonder how much better the album might have been if Man or Astro-Man? had strayed a little bit away from their basic surf style. Don’t get me wrong, the album does have a weird edge, but it’s not expansive enough for my tastes. There’s not enough space within many of the songs to allow the listener to drift, with the band constantly driving things to a conclusion. If anything the album needs to be a bit stranger. However, I believe that the band are great live, and I’m sure within their large back catalogue I’ll find what I’m looking for. Good then, but it could be further out there. Graeme's Rating: ********** Basically you can take the above as my opinion also. To give you an idea of what they sound like, think Fatso Jetson meets Neurosis meets Entombed (Same Difference era) meets Davie Allan & The Arrows. I have heard bits of the recent Man Or Astro-man? Peel session, and it was very cool compared to this album. It's too restrained and directed. Kevin's Verdict: Interesting, but probably not their best work. |
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