Sex Change

iTunes Review

Since their start in the early '90s, this DC-based trio named after a cheesy but powerful sports car has consistently pushed the envelope of indie music. With a lot of chutzpah and an excellent graphic design sensibility, they've pushed high-falutin' "post-rock" towards musical ideas it otherwise would likely never touch. Uncannily, their worldview seems to exist in some magical space in-between ridiculous irony and fierce enthusiasm for these sounds. After a two year break, the group thankfully reunited to record this crazy patchwork quilt of spacey and vaguely danceable retro-futurist electronic rock. From the math-rock construction of the songs themselves to the science-fiction/action thriller atmosphere of the Escape from New York synth washes throughout, it's clear this is nerd music (in the best possible sense). Soundtrack reference points are hard to avoid with mostly instrumental groups, of course. "Rocktronica" is perhaps the lamest of all aborted musical terms, but it has never sounded as good as it does on Sex Change.