Record of the Week: Andy Human and the Reptoids
ANDY HUMAN AND THE REPTOIDS — LP“Reptoid Rock Revenge” is the motto on the collage/lyric sheet. How and by whom were they slighted? The answers may be in Fortean Times rather than these pages. I, however, can tell you that so much of what makes this record great could have gone terribly in lesser hands: saxophones, synthesizers, rhyming “insides” with “intestines”. It all comes together in the hands of ANDY HUMAN, rocker and composer. Some tracks toe the line of Boogaloo palatability, but there’s an attention to detail and careful application of sheer noise all over here, the watermark of a dedicated stylist. The production here is polished enough to let the static and atonal saxophone-wailing stand out. High fidelity recording works to a band’s favor for once. Then again I seriously think the internet-using public would flip out if this was recorded on a Tascam 414 and if everyone in the band was 5-10 years younger. Perhaps the world will appreciate this record after all, though we know too well how cruel America’s tastes and ultimate fate can be. But seek out “I Got Soul” if you need a sample; rarely since Rock’n’Roll Animal have punk desperation and glam virtuosity come together in such a frothy eruption. I’d buy seven copies of this record if I could afford it, but I can’t. Anyway, this record is one of the two most assertive statements on having no money in the city to come in this month. Some react to late capitalism in urban America by withdrawing; some stick around to try their hand at outplaying, outsmarting, and outlasting the suddenly very late night. Hand them the keys to the studio. (Eli Wald)
(S-S)
