Stop the Future

The Epoxies could rock up an old Primitives or Missing Persons' song in a snap and be done with it. But there's no fun in that. Instead they apply their razor-blade shimmy to "Robot Man," the 1978 In Trance classic where the Scorpions went mecho-pop, and Roxy Epoxy even pronounces "vision" as if it started with a "w," just like Klaus Meine. "Robot"'s just one example of how the synth-fueled Portland punk-pop combo keeps its shtick alive. The rub: they take things further. Yes, their principal influences are as obvious as an episode of VH1's I Love the '80s. But the Epoxies buoy those keytar melodies and Betamax love songs with wrangling, punk rock guitar, and the supporting vocals from FM Static and Shock Diode are fantastic. Like the Soviettes or the Aquabats, the Epoxies know how to stretch a simple idea into powerful songs that whir like tiny good-time dynamos. "This Day" bops on a break-up song pulse, and "You Kill Me" recognizes that new wave had as much rollicking percussion as much as it did analog synthesizers. The title track is a great instrumental, marrying pop-metal Sunset Strip-guitar to handclaps and swirling keys, while the appropriately-titled "Synthesized" is that and much more, a plastic sheen warmed by Roxy's droll lead vocal. You know you're getting with the Epoxies; their articulated mascara, crinkly vinyl outfits, and skinny sunglasses give it away. But when you discover that there are real live songs behind the throwback references, that's when Stop the Future starts sticking around.