Cosmic Mind Flight

Take one part Ladytron and one part Adult., add a pinch of Throbbing Gristle and Devo, and you have the wry electroclash of Crack: W.A.R. Cosmic Mind Flight takes all of these influences and mixes them into an album that is fun, quirky, and horribly catchy. Combining dissonant, primitive synth lines with dainty melodies and lyrics that often focus on Satan (but in cute way), the album sticks in your head long after it stops playing. Female vocalists L'Erin and Le Kim's harmonies are tight and their somewhat robotic, somewhat dreamy delivery might remind you of the twins who hung around Japanese giant Mothra. They don't smirk much, and recite lyrics about "rainbows on frogs" and "horses with wings" without a trace of irony. Musically, the band gets more out of its naïve synths than most of the competition, and flecks of space rock and industrial dissonance keep things interesting. The Satan theme pops up repeatedly, but like the best moments of the Causey Way or Servotron, Crack: W.A.R. doesn't let the gimmick get in the way. They even drop it for the closing "Country Cat," an ode to a feline that should soon be rocketing up the charts at elementary schools everywhere.