Polysics
We Ate The Machine

Copycats? Maybe. Annoying? Very much so. Original? Perhaps.

So, what are POLYSICS? The heirs of Devo? Or do they simply want to be a tribute band to them? They lack nothing: Uniform, glasses, and movements are all there. Just watch the keyboardist, Kayo, in live performances to realize how much they're copycats, yet at the same time original. In my opinion, ''We Ate The Machine'' is their best album. Compared to their other albums, they are less repetitive, the album is more cohesive, and the tracks are connected to each other. This Tokyo-based Japanese quartet, composed of leader Hiroyuki Hayashi, Fumi, Masashi Yano, and Kayo, is impressive.

The first track, ''Moog Is Love'', starts with Yano's furious drumming accompanied by a dirty, yet attractive guitar riff; then come the bass and the synthesizer. Hiroyuki's irritating way of singing and incomprehensible English is balanced by the synthesizers and Kayo's robotic voice. The second track, ''Pretty Good'', begins with the synthesizer and then the band's entire instrumentation kicks in: chilling riff and keyboards that, in the first verse, remind me very much of a police chase in a sitcom. In the middle, the piano comes in and accompanies the always robotic voice of Kayo; the riff repeats, along with synthesizer and guitar solos. ''Rocket'' comes almost as if it were a continuation of ''Pretty Good'' where the keyboards and synthesizers once again dominate; the drums join in accompanied by the two female voices of Kayo and Fumi, and the short but gripping chorus takes your breath away: fast and angry drums, bass and guitar that sound like a single instrument. ''I Ate the Machine'', the title of the fourth track, is the most ''rock'' of all. The lyrics attract me ''A smile now costs 0 yen''—what does it mean? Perhaps happiness has vanished? This track reminds me a lot of MAXIMUM THE HORMONE, another Japanese band but with a completely different style. I haven't found any useless tracks so far, but here comes ''DNA Junction'', which ruins my expectations: catchy chorus, but halfway through it falls into the depths of banality, and here the piano misses every note, it's very irritating.

''Kagayake'' or rather ''I Ate The Machine 2'' is the twin copy of ''I Ate The Machine'' but is lighter. The next track, ''Pony and Lions'', is quite useless and very vaguely, the bassline after the verses reminds me of Metallica, while the guitar solo reminds me a lot of Santana. ''Arigatou'' is also quite useless but curious, the singer starts rapping halfway through the song. ''Irotokage'' seems like a 70s pop-dance ballad if it weren't for the dirty bass. The subsequent tracks ''Mind your Head'' and ''Digital Coffee'' are very fun and could easily be used as the theme for any Japanese anime. ''Boys & Girls'' is their best and most ''original'' track on the album, a song to dance to on the beach or with friends. ''Blue Noise'' is a track that reminds me of a song from ''Animal Crossing'', a Nintendo video game. The last track, ''Dry or Wet'', is quite useless. The correct order of the last three tracks, in my opinion, should be:

-Dry or Wet

-Blue Noise

-Boys & Girls

The influences are there, maybe too many: Devo, Radiohead in the days of ''KID A'' and ''Amnesiac'', Kraftwerk... but they managed to make this influence unique, even if they sometimes overdo it with eccentricities and oddities. A solid pass.