3 out of 5

Label: One Louder

Produced by: Birdstuff, Jim Marrer

Man or Astroman is forever one of those bands that seems like an easy win in concept – amped up sci-fi surf rock often recorded by Steve Albini! – that, whenever I chance on a recording, always comes across as lacking.  Then again, I have to question what I expect, because they deliver exactly what I described: that flat, rumbly Albini non-mix, slick surf licks, acefully performed, with amusing sci-fi movie snippets linking it all together.  That’s what you get, and they do a damn fine job of that.  So then it’s a question of how one can ever pierce the bubble on a certain level of quality of that shtick.  On Your Weight On The Moon, they occasionally hit it: Electrostatic Brain Field feels absolutely unleashed in a way that would be amazing to hear executed across an album, and the way some of the samples are re-purposed – The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T is already a weird movie, but inserting it into a space travel narrative is inventive –  injects a sense of smarts into the performance.  But overall we’re in mid-theater, good seats, full view, of a slick surf rock act who had their shot together and put on a good show.  It’s a show you sense you can come back and see similarly the next night, but that doesn’t mean you’ve wasted your time or money.