An authentically odd debut, this, given that Susumu Mukai seems to combine two contrasting ideas of retro-modernism:the cavernous but homely production style of Joe Meek, and the chillier, more precise textures of electro. It begins brilliantly with “Make Love Not War”, originally by biker/surf guitarist Davie Allan, that posits how The Cramps might have sounded had they embraced their robotic side. The rest of the album’s pretty good, too. Mukai fuzzes the edges between bleep and twang to novel effect, and even his applications of punk-disco surprise?forlorn and bedsit-bound rather than the usual studied hedonism.
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