Frantic Mantis

Although bands who claim to have invented a new genre are often sorely misguided in their so-called creation, Frantic Mantis may have actually earned their chosen musical moniker of "datapunk.” By switching between early DC hardcore blasts and Gameboy squeals, the band seem equally intent on ignoring the technological side of music creation as mining it for all it’s worth. Made up of members of both Division of Laura Lee and Frodus/Decahedron, the band manage to sound nothing like the members’ past work. While opener "Creation Sickness” kicks out the jams like New Day Rising-era Hüsker Dü, it is immediately followed by the clicks and buzzes of "Obsessive Online Community Drones” with nary a guitar in sight. The rest of the music follows in a similar fashion, balancing ass-kicking hardcore with drone-y electronic numbers.