Plan 9

Being a great cover band doesn’t instantly translate into crafting impressive original material. Plan 9’s debut, Manmade Monster, is tedious, copping the Misfits yet lacking the bite and vitriol that made them so enduring. As with most artist-/band-inspired acts, Plan 9 fail to interpret what they think is cool about their heroes and offer something unique. They’re merely content to provide a bland carbon copy. The music is well executed but disgustingly predictable (Walk Among Us, anyone?) and singer Aaron Fuller has a strong voice but is strangely enthralled with mimicking Michale Graves’ throaty croon, as opposed to Danzig’s gritty wail. He therefore lacks conviction on original songs and renders covers "Teenagers From Mars/We Bite” and "Samhain” little more than uninteresting pop punk. Sincere? Yes. Flattery? Not quite.