“Vapor Transmission”

Orgy

Compare to: Fear Factory, The Hunger, Gravity Kills

3 Stars

“Welcome to the Andrio System,” greets a computerized voice on the opening of “Vapor Transmission,” the latest product from the fuzz-heavy glam-rockers known as Orgy.

From the opening soundscape of futuristic sequences and countdowns to the final fuzzy riff, this band’s sophomore effort takes on real world situations with a spaced-out sound.

For those who don’t know, Orgy first popularized themselves with the world of rock in trendy fashion with the cover of New Order’s “Blue Monday,” on their debut album, “Candyass.”

Although “Candyass” was a fairly innovative album that reintroduced America’s youth to the glossy world of glam, it seemed to be more of a cybernetic-rock experiment.

“Vapor Transmission,” on the other hand, has Orgy turning their glittered cheeks towards a more mature sound. In fact, the album almost portrays itself as a concept album.

Songs like “The Odyssey” and “Fiction (Dreams in Digital)” seem connected, but on the whole the concept seems incoherent and hazily defined.

Despite this, there are some catchy gems on the album including “Opticon,” which transcends a visit to the 1980s and also provides a lesson on the benefits of using ProTools.

Then there’s the poignant “Eva,” a song that pays tribute to producer Josh Abraham’s mother who recently passed away. It was her garage that provided the rehearsal space when Orgy first formed.

“Eyes-Radio-Lies” is a song that addresses the Orwellian idea of having eyes in the radio, invading our privacy and watching our every move. Perhaps the real invasion here is the skull-piercing frequencies created by the handy guitar work of Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck.

In fact, the music is what makes this album, not frontman Jay Gordon’s droning alt-rockish voice. Although this guy can sing, his minimal range gets boring after the first few songs.

On “Saving Faces,” guitar sounds are bouncing in all directions like lasers in a room full of mirrors. Sonically, this is cool, until the same thing happens on “Re-Creation,” no pun intended, and then again on “Chasing Sirens.”

Orgy is a visual band sporting glam-rocker outfits and hairdos along with sci-fi guitars. This band is simply mesmerizing when performing live.

Unfortunately, that kind of energy is hard to package in a plastic case. So until technology finds a way of selling music audio-visually, Orgy will remain a 30th Century band waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.

– Kevin Hosbond

“Soul Caddy”

Cherry Poppin’ Daddies

Compare to: Atomic Fireballs, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Suicide Machines

3/5 Stars

“Soul Caddy,” the new release from The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies is like a mixed bag of nuts that will leave you picking through it for the cashews.

Eclectic is one thing, but these guys have been gone from alternative near-punk to swing to ska revival and it hasn’t left them with a unique sound so much as it has left them doing meandering tracks.

This isn’t all bad, but exceeding one’s genre usually requires picking a genre to begin with, THEN exceeding it.

Working in ska or swing, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies make some progress, but tracks like “Diamond Light Boogie” and “Bleeding Ceremony” raise questions. They sound like Cheap Trick produced by Rammstein so the question might well be “What’s the point?”

The tracks leave the listener disjointed. Ska and swing are like Pepsi and Pop Rocks, they are both enjoyable but have them together and they explode in your mouth and get a candy-colored mess all over your Fonzi T-shirt and nobody wants that.

“Irish Whiskey” is one of the better tracks, which is probably why they decided to take it from “Kids on the Street” and re-release it.

“God is a Spider” has a something of a Living Proof, modified surf/ska thing going that gets the feet tapping and the blood pounding.

There isn’t a lot of the “Zoot Suit Riot,” flash-in-the-pan, everybody’s favorite single going on here, but the album is good enough to give it a chance.

– Greg Jerrett

“Arepa 3000: A Venezuelan Journey into Space”

Los Amigos Invisibles

Compare to: Cafe Tacuba, Susana Baca, Grupo Limite

3/5 Stars

“Arepa 3000: A Venezuelan Journey Into Space”

Los Amigos Invisibles

Can’t take that vacation to Venezuela this semester?

Don’t worry, now you can take one in an hour with the cool Latin sounds offered on the new Los Amigos Invisibles album, “Arepa 3000: A Venezuelan Journey Into Space.”

“Arepa 3000” mixes Latin rhythm with club beats and samples. Half of the album sounds like Festival and the other half sounds like really good porno music.

The tracks flow from cool grooves like a walk on a sunlit beach to hot disco mixes.

It is good party music from the folks at Luaka Bop, the people who have brought so much fine Latin music to the north in the last decade.

Los Amigos Invisibles may well be burning up the charts, but the casual Latin music fan will not find the hooks and catchy choruses of Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias and Marc Anthony.

No, this is Latin pop without the Americanisms.

“Arepa 3000: A Venezuelan Journey Into Space” is not the kind of album you get to hear over the radio in the summer, it is more of a coffeehouse, world-beat album.

It is not for those who don’t like something new in their discman, but for the adventurous, it is a sensuous, sultry trip to the hearts of space.

– Greg Jerrett