Eclectic comp's worth
of synth-pop, wacked-out garage, digigrind, electro-hop, brou-ha-rock,
lo-fi grumble, freaky improv, and indefinable ephemera. Well, that
covers some of it. Seriously, D;O;UXF? is out there, but what
might be labelled a lack of cohesion actually makes for an
appealingly unpredictable grab-bag of sonic lunacy. As one might
expect from a gallery of unknowns (I didn't recognize a single
name upon cracking this baby open), the quality level fluctuates,
though there are several gems and a few promising finds. For me, one
of the biggest treats was Columbus, Ohio's Anna Ranger, an
eighties-obsessed dinky synth-pop trio that designs swell pop songs
out of tinny drum machines & keys. "They Don't Bury Their Dead in
Columbus" is brilliant and infuriatingly catchy, whereas the macabre
juxtaposition on "Mutant Beast" is tongue-in-cheek goodness.
Elsewhere, The Judy Experience's jazzy dub gracefully bonks,
The Shudders' scuzz-rock gracelessly ferments, and Mystic
Defender's deformed groove-funk exuberantly bounces along. Not
every experiment pays off (I like no-wave and noise, but Eliyas
is just annoying), but then you have tongue-in-cheek treasures like
Hugs and Kisses' "Condoms Make My Dick Go Limp," which
somehow don't disappoint. Anyway, to summarize -- a solid, bizarre,
hopelessly eclectic comp. Just how I like 'em.
