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Man or Astro-Man?
August 18, 2022 // Brooklyn Made
Some years ago, a young collective of extraterrestrials arrived on this planet and happened upon a small college town in Alabama. Home to both otherworldly jazz guru Sun Ra and rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, it is clear that Alabama is a direct linkage to outer space. In order to integrate into human society, these aliens would disguise themselves as a rock band, the perfect vehicle in which to traverse the globe and further their research. They would soon be known to the people of Earth as Man or Astro-Man?.
Unearthing thrift store records by the likes of Link Wray, The Ventures, Dick Dale, Duane Eddy, The Marketts & The Safaris – Man or Astro-Man? began to formulate their own blend of the retro-futuristic inspired by their offbeat musical discoveries. Innovative stage sets and designs by Kraftwerk, The Spotniks, The Residents, Devo, Sun Ra, and The B-52s also had an impact on the emerging ensemble.
Man or Astro-Man? began playing countless shows in the Southeast with bands like Southern Culture on the Skids, The Woggles, Hillbilly Frankenstein, The Subsonics, and The Flat Duo Jets. The group soon caught the attention of Estrus Records’ owner Dave Crider who released their full-length debut, Is it…Man or Astro-Man? (1993).
The label’s design aesthetic revolved around the other-wordly concepts of designer Art Chantry whose works melded perfectly with the Astro-minds. Destroy All Astro- Men (1994), Project Infinity (1995), and several EP’s were also released by Estrus.
Touch and Go Records released all later Astro-transmissions. Experiment Zero (1996) was recorded in three days with engineer Steve Albini at Zero Return Studios in Alabama. Now drawing influences from the future (as well as the past), the band began to extend their use of samples, computer programming, homemade instruments, electronic gadgetry, tape splicing, and other bits of Earth technology. Both the 1000X EP (1997) and Made From Technetium (1997) were darker steps into the futuristic soundtrack realm.
Now, Man or Astro-man? have returned to Earth and unveiled their finest recorded work to date. Defcon 5…4…3…2…1 is here now with a striking validity that the band is unquestionably as both tuneful and energetic as they ever have been. The record combines ever-familiar Astro audio tones and the well-established playing ferocity that the band is known for, but yet now, there is an undeniably evolution to the band that is both intuitive, logical and well crafted. Man or Astro-man? has arrived in the present (and future, of course) with imminent purpose. And of course, they still bring an over-the-top, sensory overloaded show, which has always gained them a reputation for always being an undisputedly amazing band to see live.
Shutups
Shutups was born in a leaky storage container in the winter of 2015— Oakland-based singer/guitarist Hadley Davis had just rekindled his friendship with ex-college housemate Mia Wood, who immediately took it upon herself to learn the drums. Fueled by the unbridled potential of a new creative outlet, the DIY-bred two-piece began writing and recording at a lightning pace.
Pasting pop fantasies upon obscenely distorted guitars, Shutups borrow equally from 2000s alternative and 70s soft rock balladry—like Dave Grohl pounding his way through ELO covers compressed through the blown-out speakers of your shitty car. Davis' vivid lyricism paints romantic yet self-deprecating portraits of suburban life in a world spun out of control, gaining the band a co-sign from modern-day garage rock icon Mike Krol.
A year after their Cody Votolato (Blood Brothers)-produced debut LP Every Day I'm Less Zen, Shutups joined the roster of revered indie label Kill Rock Stars in 2020. With the addition of Bud Armienti on bass and Eric Stafford on lead guitar, the group matured into their most prolific form yet, releasing three EPs over two years.
Now with a career spanning an LP, seven EPs, and nearly a dozen self-produced music videos, Shutups are on the cusp of their most ambitious era to date and they don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Seriously
For decades, the concept of the American Dream has felt like an immutable entity that burst into existence fully formed. But even those concepts that get hammered into society until they become inescapable cliches were constructed from a distinct sociopolitical perspective--a breakdown in the system that post-punk outfit Seriously pick at on their latest, Built Environment, due February 2023 via Earth Libraries. “There are inherent inequities woven into the American Dream, in the ways it was designed, how it was sold to us,” insists bassist/vocalist Chayse Porter. “We want to pull back the curtain on the complacency, vanity, and follies of rugged individualism that sprawl through the suburbs.” The trio of Porter, Jonathan Crain (guitar/vocals), and Michael Harp (synth/guitar) set that anxious eye immediately at their target with the album’s paranoiac opening track, “Dark Room”. Here and throughout the album, Porter’s bass rains down like chunks of cement onto icy waves of guitar and drum machine, dark new wave harmonies emerging from the mix. But for every ounce of grit, Seriously know how to balance with Talking Heads funk as on “No Salvation”, or bleary-eyed Talk Talk-esque synthpop, as on “With Delight”. That latter song’s ability to weave acoustic strumming in through the midst of raindrop synth plinks, church bells, and drum machine claps highlights Seriously’s eye for clever pop pleasures. Similarly, “Monument” charges forward on head-banging square-wave riffs, a pure adrenaline shot to the heart. “In the cracks, something grows,” the trio repeat as the track reaches its peak, only to leap off and soar unencumbered. Later, “The Architect” bounces grandiose percussion rolls with wobbly ‘80s bass and samples of bird calls for a slice of oddball chill, a playful meditative moment of escape. The band’s careful push and pull between the voices and the synths and drum machine add a layer of steady momentum. More than a musical choice, that iconoclastic duality is drawn directly from the trio’s lived experiences. All three members of Seriously were born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, though Porter now splits time in San Francisco, and the album draws its themes from the increasingly entangled dualities of that journey: past and present, North and South, and relentless capitalism and the hope of the DIY scene, where all three have spent years managing venues and art spaces, booking shows, and playing in bands. “Built Environment observes the insularity that technology introduces, the frailty of modern landscapes, and the manufactured dependencies we all crave—what we now know as the American Dream,” Porter explains. That conflict plays out in the boiling energy of these songs, each of which redoubles live band verve with intensifying electronic structures. The songs were steadily road-tested and rewritten as Seriously rolled across the country, and then strengthened by engineer Brad Timko at Communicating Vessels studio in Birmingham. Recorded and mixed entirely analog to tape, Built Environment employs complex layering while retaining a raw, organic edge. “It was an adventure employing ancient equipment in a studio setting,” Porter says. “Some things, like our Alesis HR-16 drum machine from the mid-’80s, proved to be quite fussy when translating to tape. It took at least 2 full-weekend sessions just to capture that.” That work pays off on propulsive songs like the standout “What if the Dream Comes True?”. The jagged interplay between vocals and guitar carries the weight, while a wash of synths stretches out limitlessly. Even the six-minute title track feels entropic in its constant pushing at the edges, a smoldering core buoyed by an ascending chord progression. After decrying the pains of life under the oppressive assumptions and inequalities of America, closing track “Under the Boot of God” offers a painful reminder. “Are we made to suffer/ At the hands of others/ Under the boot of God?” the trio wonder, before twisting the knife just a little deeper: “The god we made ourselves.” It’s a heady cry, one that deserves the thoughtful treatment received here and the repeated unraveling that will follow after the last chorus fades. But yet again, Seriously deliver that subtle pang in a starry night tableau, flashes of whistling, glistening harmonies, and shimmering guitar. In that way, Built Environment draws the listener in closer and closer only to reveal that the one twisting the knife has been yourself all along.
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