album review: POLYSICS "Now Is The Time!"

Of all the albums I've listened to so far this year, there have been only a few that have really moved me. The new Arctic Monkeys is pretty amazing, and the forthcoming Flaming Lips record is really, really good (and I'm never been much of a fan of theirs...), but the one that has really rocked me most is the new one by Polysics, Now Is The Time!.

Polysics are a DEVO-worshipping foursome from Tokyo, specializing in the kind of guitar-and-synth-frenzy DEVO made back in their early days, but with a touch of XTC and Talking Heads pop-sensibility thrown in to keep it catchy, all the while sounding current and not nostalgic at all. Partly produced by Andy Gill of Gang Of Four, Now Is The Time! is excitingly frenetic but never repetitive, unlike most bands who fancy themselves torchcarriers of the Spudboys. Allegedly, their live shows are even more exciting than their records.

It's worth a trip to their website to read their tour journals, especially as they made their way around the USA last year, and particularly when they played in Akron, Ohio, the original home of DEVO, where each Polysics member posed in different Akron souvenir t-shirts (who knew you could find four different Akron shirts?) and where they played what had to be a fierce version of DEVO's own "Uncontrollable Urge" as an encore.

Polysics Tour Dates (which will be followed by a UK tour with Kaiser Chiefs):

March 02 - Portland, OR - Dante's
04 - San Francisco, CA - Cafe du Nord
06 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
07 - Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory
08 - Pomona, CA - Glass House
10 - Phoenix, AZ - Glass House
11 - Tucson, AZ - Congress Club
12 - Santa Fe, NM - Warehouse 21
14 - Dallas, TX - The Door (DL)
15 - Houston, TX - Super Happy FunLand
18 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit

Watch the video for Polysics' "I Me Mine" here.

Polysics - "Walky Talky" mp3
Buy Polysics' Now Is The Time! here.