2013 is indeed a good year for new albums from bands who haven't released anything for a long time. When I learned of Man Or Astroman?'s new Defcon 5...4...3...2...1, I had to order it instantly from Amazon Japan.
I went to a MOA concert in April of 1996. I remember that clearly because they were making jokes about the stupid Heaven's Gate cult and their obsession with the Hale Bopp comet. It wasn't until after then that the cult committed mass suicide. It's hard to call such an event a tragedy, because I really don't see how a group of extremely stupid people killing themselves is all that sad. I'm sure it was sad for their families, but having less stupid people in the world is a good thing, if you think about it.
Anyhow, the weather that evening was fantastic, perfect for an outside concert in Phoenix, Arizona. There was a clear sky, and we could even see the Hale Bopp comet among the stars. My friend Steve had told me that their concerts were always fantastic to see. This is a band that would wear hollowed out television sets as helmets on stage, setting up live Tesla coils on stage, showing bizarre movie footage, and doing all sorts of weird stuff. When they got on stage, Star Crunch was wearing a motorcycle helmet that he had doused in WD40 or something. He'd lit it on fire and wore that flaming helmet while playing guitar. Coco was wearing a light-up jumpsuit. There were three screens set up behind them. One was showing some old science cartoon about molecules and such, another was showing some asteroids floating through space, and... I forget what was on the other screen. It was a very multi-media concert.
They were touring for their album, Experiment Zero, which was their biggest success yet. According to my friend Steve, their growing popularity was starting to get on their nerves when the jock crowd caught onto their music. It's painful enough having dumb jocks tell you "You guys are awesome," but it's worse when you have a bunch of stupid idiots attending your concerts and bothering you. Blending 1960's surf rock with science and science fiction, while adding a love for dumb B-grade, MST3K-style movies, MOA is certainly a unique band. In their concerts, they act like visitors from space. While announcing somebody's birthday, they admonished Earthlings and our completely linear, primitive concept of time progression. When something failed to work properly, the excuse was that it actually happened, but our unevolved Earthling eyes couldn't see what had actually happened. (They must have learned that cop out technique from 7th Day Adventists!)
Something that was totally fantastic was the concert's intermission. They played a video made of Star Wars action figures. The audio was taken from the incredibly nostalgic Star Wars read-along book that I had as a child. The book was a condensed version of the movie, along with pictures from the film, and the book came with a .45 rpm record to listen to while reading along with the book. R2D2 would beep, letting you know when to turn the page. So they took the audio from that, filmed action figures recreating the scenes from the movie, and at the end there was footage taken from the Star Wars Arcade Game for the Atari 2600 (I never owned that game and I somehow never knew of its existence until much later). Everyone cheered when the Death Star exploded! If somebody was at that concert and they weren't a sci fi nerd, they did not belong there.
Also of note was their tour van. It was disguised as a television repair van, with the slogan "Repairing your television with savage teenage lust!" written on the side. It had a radar dish and all sorts of bizarre science stuff added to it, if I recall correctly. I wish I had my camera with me.
Man Or Astro-Man?: Defcon 5...4...3...2...1
Okay, so now to talk about Defcon 5...4...3...2...1. This is their first album in over 10 years. I was a MOA fan in the '90s, but when they went on hiatus, I eventually gave up trying to check on their progress. So now they are back, Star Crunch, Coco, and Birdstuff, plus a new guitarist, Avona Nova. The band is still fantastic and the music is undeniably the same stuff, however their sound is not as sparkly clean and instead sounds a bit fuzzy. It's still surf rock, but the notes are now wrapped in wool sweaters. This is particularly noticeable in the first track, "Defcon 5," which actually sounds a bit muffled even. I miss the sound clips they used to add to their music, with great quotes like "Their robot planes were no match for our music!", "I've done a lot of crazy things in my life but... I've never stuck my head into a hornets' nest!", and "I'd like to buy an organ, but I'd like to make sure I can play before I buy one!" And how about this for some highly-realistic dialogue between two space explorers: "We're to explore Uranus. That's why we're here." "I know that! We've got a job to do."
There's a lot more singing in this album as compared to the older albums. "Antimatter Man," "Disintegrate," "Communication Breakdown Pt. II," and "Electric Arc" are all great. This is the same band as always, but they have changed a bit. I like these vocal tracks. For those with a desire for some pure surf rock, this album will not disappoint. My favorite is "All Systems Are Go," and the bass in this song rattles the doors of my car. Soundclips may be absent, but neat electronic sounds are still there.
This is an exciting album, and it is exciting that MOA has released a new album. Go buy it now!
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