Acrophobe
(Honest Don’s)
Somewhere, lost in the high seas of indie rock, you’ll find Bad Astronaut, desperately treading the waters between obnoxious pop punk and artistic expression.
Acrophobe, the Santa Barbara trio’s debut album offers a befuddling mixture of conventional sounding, Blink 182-esque rock & schlock, and tasteful—thoughtful, even—pop music arrangements, festooned with flourishing pianos, percussion, cheesy, belching synthesizers and acoustic guitar strumming.
On paper, Bad Astronaut looks like some kind of a deranged studio project, led by Lagwagon head cheese and multi-band maharishi Joey Cape, and featuring the been-around-the-block likes of ex-Nerf Herder bassist Marko 72 and drummer Derrick Plourde, but is Acrophobe the punk Dark Side of the Moon?
Not quite. While the record flaunts several engagingly original ditties, the most conspicuous of these being “Logan’s Run,” “Deformed,” and the lugubrious, piano-laden “Quiet,” the luster of these gems is sullied by the presence of far lesser specimens, such as the generic “Greg’s Estate,” “500 Miles,” and “Only Good for a Fuck,” the latter of which being a cool song meeting ruin in a lame chorus. An unexpected winner can be found in an Elliot Smith cover, the noisy “Needle In the Hay.”
With a forthcoming split and another full-length album planned for 2001, Bad Astronaut seems intent on proving themselves right off the bat. Acrophobe, however, is a shaky start.
By Casey Lombardo
Long Beach Union
Originally printed 2.12.01
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