4 out of 5

Label: Auris Apothecary

Produced by: J.S.

This is a tough one. I heard The Advantage first; what about you? When it comes to Nintendocore groups – groups who were translating classic NES-era video game themes into guitar-bass-drums jams, and / or applying the vibe to chiptune – you had the main names in the early 00s (Advantage, Minibosses), and then many iterating on that theme. I haven’t previously heard of Kid Overdrive, but according to the bandcamp blurb, this set of Megaman covers (a mix of the first few games up through the X series) would’ve come out during that era, and assuming there’d be more emphasis on KO being the premiere Ninetencore artist, perhaps we can assume they were another one of those iterators. The notoriety here is that it’s a one-person act – John Orr – and Orr gives it a punky vibe with a no-wave edge, thanks to a jammin’ saxophone taking over some synth lines. It’s absolutely a kick, and Auris Apothecary’s physical rerelease putting this inside a game cartridge is pretty brilliant.

But: I heard The Advantage first. And, instantly falling in love with the concept, I started exploring other bands from the scene, soon finding an inherent limitation: since they’re all playing covers, and often of the same songs, and part of what makes those covers amusing in their re-presented fashion is doing them accurately but on guitars or whatnot… it can be a pretty limiting scene. Most of the mainstays had their special ingredient, and I do think The Advantage had some true perks over others (a very sharp sense of what to “add” to tracks without betraying their mood; excellent production), it’s entirely possible that, had I heard Kid Overdrive first, they’d be my go-to.

Without that alternate history, this set opens up more as you go along, and Orr leans in to the punkness, plus really unleashes the sax. It never stops sounding like a covers albun, though, which inherently makes it somewhat restrained – you gotta stay on target – and being a one-person act, it sounds a little too “clean,” lacking the interplay of multiple people.