(((Microwaves))) are scared. I can't quite figure out what it is that scares them, but it makes them write frantic, off-kilter, and noisy rock. The drums crash and jump, the bass lurches forward, the synthesizer buzzes, spins, and the guitar grates and scratches at the mercy of the hollers, yelps, and creepy laughter. At times, menacingly aggressive, other times playfully strange.
The album ends with several tracks of laughter laid over each other, with what sounds like a little kid saying "I took a picture of blood" (also one of the lines from the first song).
Yes, (((Microwaves))) are in Arab on Radar/US Maple territory. They don't throw obvious structure out quite like Arab on Radar or US Maple, but the same sense of chaos is found at every turn of System 2. "Bad American" recalls Devo, if Devo had been a little tougher. The strange groove of "Le Cachot" is a menacing counterpoint to the phrases intermittently blurted through the speakers. And everything clicks just right on "Police Biz" which sounds like some kind of fucked up dance/rock track set to a Philip K Dick novel. A strange and sort of playful bunch, these (((Microwaves))).
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