Order Of Operation

Punk/garage punk/synth punk/new wave. This is the sort of juvenile thrashy punk that some of us love and some of us hate. Nasal shrieking male voice, heavy synth, power guitars. The lyrics are inane when you can understand them, but that’s part of the fun. The synth is working really well here—it makes their sound much weirder than it would otherwise be. And the voice is such a punk voice: shrieky, nasty, pushing itself to the limit. If you like punk, you’ll like this.

Recommended: 1, 8 (FCC), 9, 12

1) “Freedom of Information” (2:22): Great little beat here, and the lyrics are fun. “Yo Mom! I’m on the Internet! Yo Mom! I’m online!” Superb.
2) “We’re Cops” (1:22): Thrashy, spazzy little song. Great drumroll.
3) “Family Time” (3:06): Fun synthesizer. Cool spin out of control at the end.
4) “Stadiums” (1:56): Thick layers of sound on this one, and lots of synth.
5) “Publicity Stunts” (1:45): Insistent, repetitive beat.
6) “Wrong” (2:01): Almost more of a poppy flavor to this one.
7) “Felix Tried to Kill Himself” (2:26): The voice squeaks through this one. A song about suicide.
8) “Tunnel Vision” (3:46) (FCC: SHIT): More of a fully developed song. Driving stuff, thrashy voice, playful instrumentation. Great.
9) “Looney Bin” (1:46): Cool song about being in the looney bin.
10) “1982” (1:42): A quick, high-power song.
11) “Not Whole” (2:43): A little shrieking on this one.
12) “Boiling Point” (2:06): Instrumental second half. Hard driving number.
13) “Depersonalisation” (2:54): Great elegant little opening into a fairly straightforward repetitive song. “Outside myself! Outside myself! I’m living outside myself!

--Mr. Tumnus