Mouse On Mars

It’s hard to believe this is the same duo (Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner) that put out Iaora Tahiti and Vulvaland in the mid-’90s. Those albums have aged well with time, but Radical Connector has the shelf life of breast milk. Their last release, 2001’s noisy, hyper and modernist Idiology, kicked open a whole new direction for the boys after their bubbly and hypnotic beginnings, but this time around the mouse is on mars without a spacesuit of philosophy to walk about in, let alone the rocket fuel to bring it home. For starters, every track has irritatingly treated vocals and Mouse On Mars, up until now, have been primarily an instrumental electronic duo. There are still moments when Toma and Werner hit their groove though, like during the Underworld-ish "Send Me Shivers” or the warm instrumental sections of "Detected Beats,” but the album is far too weighed down by its own goofy idiosyncrasies and wannabe Kid 606 tendencies to be anywhere near successful.