Review: The Epoxies - Stop the Future & The Epoxies

The Epoxies have their own line of skateboards and actively recruit visitors to their site to promote them in a street team. Something tells me they want to be famous. Stop the Future is their second full-length, and it's a great slice of aggressive new wave dance mania.

Keyboardist/vocalist FM Static was in the killer snot-pop-punk garage band The Automatics. This is a whole new gig. What I'm reminded of when I listen to The Epoxies are Kim Wilde, Flock Of Seagulls, The Go-Gos, Servotron and the first album by The Anniversary. The beats are new wave but the energy and drive are from this new century. The theramin-feel on some of the keyboards is new too.

Roxy Epoxy's voice is powerful and distinctive yet I feel I should be placing it elsewhere. Her look is inspired by Toyah Willcox, and maybe the voice too. No matter how many reviewers say it there is no Blondie or Devo influence on this disc.

Every song is melodically fast and every instrument works overtime to defeat dead air. There's a recurring sci-fi theme and "Robot Man" is a Scorpions cover done equally well by The Vindictives. Stop the Future is a very fun record and there's a real punk energy to songs that are not punk. Loosen up and have some fun for a change. And tuck your shirt in.

6/26 update: I just listened to their debut cd, The Epoxies. It's more straight ahead casio punk than the follow up, and the insistent speed of The Automatics comes through more, but it's a great recording and also worth having. Throughout both cds I keep on wanting to sing the line "We're the kids of America".