Microwaves - Professional Systems Overload EP
(Cenotaph)
Frenetic, epileptic rock has become the new face of rock and roll. Bands
like Oxes, Champs,
Trans Am, and Arab on Radar hold the future of rock music in their sweaty,
shaking hands.
Somewhere between the extremes the aforementioned bands inhabit lie
Microwaves. Combining
the classic riffing of Oxes, the swagger of The Fucking Champs, the
electro-ck of Trans Am and
the dissonant chaos of Arab on Radar, they are here, and it appears they
won't leave without a
fight.
In just over 20 minutes, Microwaves bang their way through five tracks on
their debut, the
Professional Systems Overload EP. The first song, "Central Office"
opens the CD on
its strongest note. Microwaves show a tendency toward the wacky
songwriting of Devo, much
like Brainiac, and combine that with the sound of the Providence, RI, noise
rock scene. On the
fourth track, "Robot Monster" the EP hits a big low (which is near fatal on
such a short EP). The
vocals are a dead on mimic of Eric from Arab on Radar, while the music is a
bland riff-heavy
malaise.
The last track, "Et Cetera," picks it up quite a bit (which is good since
it's over ten minutes
long--nearly half the length of the whole EP!). It introduces an element I
am extremely happy to
be hearing, Sonic Youth-like skronk and noise! And I do mean early Sonic
Youth. Add
saxophone noises and you've got the elements to break new ground in a genre
that already
split the standard rock outfit into splinters.
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