EXIT HUMAN
Arvada (Direct Hit)
Reviewed by Jason Thornberry

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Arvada is a soundscape that's not too far removed from Nurse With Wound or an even more bugged out Herbie Hancock. This band dresses up for this little party too, complete with partially a shaved head and beard on one guy so it looks like a big donut landed on his head while he was pen to paper for the ditty Kill All Humans. When one of the duo changes their name to Raldron you know something's not quite there.

This cd's a bit like being trapped inside an old Atari 2600 game. I used to spend hours as a little kid playing Missile Command, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and other quirky games full of bleeps, blips and bloops. I actually enjoyed this album. Well recorded, and with some good femme vocals too. The piano seemed to stand out from the more modern keys (and I am NOT old fashioned), and guitar is used sparingly. It also sounds like there could be some cuts (scratching, dj'ing, turntablism) in there as well.

I don't know why it just popped into my head just now, but the sheer wackiness of this group's Modus Operandi brought to mind an episode of that 1980's t.v. show Moonlighting. Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis are seated in a Mexican restaurant when a trio of mustachioed men holding acoustic guitars arrives at the table and burst into song. Willis leans toward them and smirks.

"You guys know any Sabbath?"

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© 2001 - Jason Thornberry