Album Review: POWERMAN 5000 – New Wave

Who wouldn’t be intrigued by the cover art for POWERMAN 5000’s new record “NEW WAVE”? I mean, anyone that loves Frank from “DONNIE DARKO” (or finds that masked rabbit man wildly scary) and loves POWERMAN 5000 will bend like mercury and say, “Why, yes I will listen to this record…”! I mean that’s not saying that the dude on the cover is supposed to be Frank…it’s just what I thought of when I saw it.

Industrial metal would not be where it is or where it’s branched off from had this band not paved the dark and creepy backroads, right? Right. This record takes everything that is POWERMAN 5000 and supercharges all of them. It’s not over the top and it’s not just something like a dead fish flopped on a table, either. This record really speaks to who the band is and gives fans what they love about POWERMAN 5000. And look, there’s nothing wrong with doing what you’re the best at doing. If bands have to reinvent themselves with every record, they’d probably come up with different names, wouldn’t they?

1. FOOTSTEPS AND VOICES – a track that takes everything we love about POWERMAN 5000 and fine tunes those breaks, triumphant choruses and grinding industrial-like guitars and boosts it with some new elements. It is thick and scary AF, y’all!
2. HOSTAGE – give in to POWERMAN 5000!! I’ll take this primal heartbeating song as a ransom note because I’m totally down to what the rest of the record is going to pull from me. It’s a loud AF number that will cautiously have you looking for someone to hold you captive.
3. SID VICIOUS IN A DRESS – only Spider can describe a lover as such…and I’m pretty positive that it rings very close to true! I love the tempo that charges like this chic does his heart! I dig the imagery towards the end when he talks about burning this fucker to the ground! Yes!!
4. DAVID FUCKING BOWIE – ooh a sexy little number and that low growling voice…meow! But seriously, I can definitely see the paradox with something like Bowie’s “Dancing In The Streets” to where the likeness to “Major Tom” at the bridge-like middle makes a statement.
5. CULT LEADER – if I were to say in response, “I think you kinda are…” I mean let’s be honest, people have all sorts of cult leaders – musicians, patriots, politicians – we all want to follow. But why do we have to? I mean why is it so hard for humans to just be – and be comfortable in our own skin? Not sure, but when we do give up on ourselves, we are subjected to being whatever it is they want us to be…
6. NO WHITE FLAGS – with a nice groove behind this track, it’s almost bluesy. But of course, it’s infused with signatures of POWERMAN 5000, although subtle, they’re there. It’s in the drama of the orchestral pieces that fuse the distortion of the guitar and the swoons of the vocal. I love this song for all of the things that it screams lyrically and that it shows something stronger than hard hammering verses and pummelling choruses.
7. THANK GOD – this 1:11 gem is everything that you want to make your fucking anthem!! It’s fast, furious, loud and brutal.
8. DIE ON YOUR FEET – get ready for it…I love the bass. I love the breaks and the drops! It belongs in a scene from a movie loud AF! I can see this song being massive live. It’s as full as a tick on the neck of a rabbit!
9. GET A LIFE – creepy and sarcastically dark, you know how POWERMAN 5000 loves to write music. This song is totally making fun of the shallow parts of people – that I’m convinced are in everyone. I mean, there are times that we have to be assholes, aren’t there??
10. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE – where this song soars is the element of freakishly truthful messages infused within. The techno tidbits make it another candidate for the big screen and it’s one of those numbers that is all POWERMAN 5000.

The band is on tour this fall and you’re going to wanna be there to hear these tracks live. I mean, I’m totally down to hear the whole record if that’s what they wanna do – pick this record up on any online music store or check out the band’s Facebook page for more details on dates and special ticketing when they roll through your town!