Six Finger Satellite

While the majority of mid-'90s indie bands were busy detuning and retuning their guitars, a small group of eccentrics like Brainiac, Trans Am and Providence, RI's Six Finger Satellite Salvation Army-ed themselves cheap synthesizers, alienating indie rock fans in the process. Following the release of 1998's James Murphy-produced Law of Ruins, Six Finger Satellite broke up, reformed, replaced two members and recorded 2001's Half Control. Released for the first time, courtesy of noise label Load Records, Six Finger Satellite, minus James Murphy and guitarist John MacLean (aka the Juan MacLean), return to their abrasive guitar sound of yore. Regressing to the type of unmelodic growls and loose songwriting normally reserved for 18-year olds learning to write, only the angular "Live Legs" and eight-minute noise opus "Bored Oracle" hover around essentiality. If anything, the story of Half Control is much more interesting than what's found on the LP.