THE MAD SCIENTISTS - "Geoparasitism"

A Denton, TX, trio with a penchant for finding familiar guitar effects settings (intro to "When Doves Cry," the guitars from "In the Flat Field") and taking their particular bag of music to the people. Brannon Barr on vocals and guitar (yes, I know that rhymes) tries very hard to show us his varied skills and styles of playing, ranging from pop to metal-esque. The bass and drums are handled by Kim Fry and Christina Cooper respectively, both doing a decent job, though the jazz bass stylings seem a bit incongruous at moments. The most disjointed aspect of the disc is Barr's vocal ability, a bit on the south side of good. He sometimes comes close to evoking the raw expression of rock and roll's more primitive side before resting too heavily upon the crutch of quirky (a la Devo), but still missing the mark.

-- Jason Manriquez
Scissor Socket Shocker Zine, Issue 2