Asian Man Records continues to astound me with its eclectic mix of sounds. Japanese punk, ska, and ska-punk and other permutations of the two walk into Asian Man records and manage to plug in, grab some microphones and saturate listeners with unrivaled sonic density.
Albeit most punk is tri-chord simplicity, the Japanese-influenced Polysics Neu adds an innovative synth-edge to otherwise clashing punk. With the recent explosion of electronica back into pseudo-underground and alternative music (i.e: The Faint, The Postal Service, Peach Cake), even punk bands have hopped on the bandwagon. Still, strip Polysics Neu of their neat little synthesizer and it's sheer redundancy.
Somewhere, where cacophony and order meet is where this caffeinated sound lands. They produce a wall of sound that snatches your listening capabilities, leaving you exhausted after each track. If cocaine trips and caffeine highs had a soundtrack, Polysics Neu would write it. Relentless tempos and power chords offer perfect music to block out an economics lecture. However, like the first time we all played Duck Hunt, these guys got a little too trigger happy-that is-with that damned synthesizer.
Nevertheless, most Asian Man bands are a far cry from Polysics Neu and wouldn't dare take a step in the direction of trilling vocals and the guitar/vocals-bass-drummer construction. Walking back with this CD in hand, I trudged over Asian Man paraphernalia littered Hayden Mall and wondered how much the label's line-up has changed since I whirled a 1999 compilation. Like every record label, it has. For the traditionalist ska-punk Potshot fans, beware: you have a newcomer among you.
Reach the reporter at: Christopher.Kark@asu.edu