We Ate The Machine

前作から約1年、猛烈な雑食性であらゆるスタイルをポリ色に染めるオリジナリティーと、ハイエナジーなライヴを支える確かな演奏力が絡み合って、意志の力がテクノロジーを陵駕した究極のロック・アルバム。先行シングル「Rocket」「Pretty Good」を含む全14曲。

We Ate the Machine can be seen as the Japanese answer to the dance-rockers of the 2000s, such as Scissor Sisters and Electric Six, but those bands are unlikely to lose any sleep on account of Polysics, because the record comes across as a hurried mess of good ideas that never realizes its potential. That could've been done intentionally -- the band labels itself "Technicolor pogo punk" and goes for a mix of punk franticness and plastic electro-pop synths; a nice idea at face value, and sometimes it even works -- see the opener "Moog Is Love," a well-realized swirl of buzzing guitars and electronic beats, catchy all over. However, it doesn't really work all the way, because Polysics don't really care about catchiness, only about being as extravagant as possible. "Pogo" in their self-description obviously refers to the compositional approach, which hops all over the place like a kitten in a catnip field, scampering around wild piano lines, bouncy bass riffs, distorted guitar chords, carnival vocalizations, and a million of pointedly cheap synthesizer noises. The direction of the songs is changed every several seconds, and each new development tries oh-so-hard to outdo its predecessor screaming "lookit me, I'm ironic and weird," which, however, is apt to cause disorientation. The crazed tempo makes it worse: this type of punk speed goes against everything the band tries to accomplish, because the breakneck assault leaves no place for the nuances that are supposed to be the fun of this ride. Later on, the album churns out some better numbers again, such as "Irotokage," but by then, the damage is already done, and the impression from We Ate the Machine is likely to be that of a nice record, if using the skip button. Perhaps Polysics need to stop being too serious about not being too serious, and just think about writing fun songs. ~ Alexey Eremenko|