Vapor Transmission
Did you know that VH1 is already coming out with a series of “I Love the New Millennium” shows? This decade isn’t even over yet. Well, no matter, because it just happens to coincide with a little light time travel I’ve been doing myself.
Lately, I’ve been having a bit of a musical regression, listening to stuff that I should have been listening to in middle school but never got around to. Remember Orgy? I do. I remember the first time I saw those MAC-plastered ladyboys on TRL (the real one, with Carson Daly and his black nail polish). I couldn’t tell if the bassist was a boy or a girl. It was awesome. Their video for “Fiction” was CGI as hell, just when all that computer animation stuff was brand new. I was in love, but alas, I was in seventh grade, and with a name like Orgy there was no way Mom was buying me their CD.
So I waited. I downloaded a song or two from Limewire. I watched their videos on Yahoo music. But eventually, like the rest of the world, I lost interest in their androgynous cyberpunk gothpop. Danny Danger soon stepped into Jay Gordon’s glittery vacuum. That is, until I found my old Limewire files on my old desktop and decided to investigate them on iTunes.
Behold! I bought their 2000 album Vapor Transmission, and it was like I stepped back into the past. But retrospect grants us a certain perception that we couldn’t have otherwise...Here’s my review of the album I waited 8 years to hear:
Let’s go track by track as I usually do:
Vapor Transmission
Okay, so who here is keeping up with the new season of the Venture Brothers? Great, me too. There’s a flashback scene where Billy Quizboy is the in the OSI headquarters, being examined by “the nozzle.”
“Vapor Transmission” is essentially 2 minutes and 15 seconds of Jay Gordon and a random woman doing the “nozzle is still calibrating” shtick with some cyberpunk type ambient noises. Not a song, doesn’t count for my review. It does, however, count for epic lulz.
Suckerface
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this song! It’s like I fell into The Fifth Element. Although I have to say, the intro sounds exactly like the Garageband demos for the “dark synthesizer” category.” Camillia, if you’re reading this, it sounds like our Crab song.
The Odyssey
This one’s okay. Anything is a little bit of a downer after “Suckerface.” This album has a lot of lyrical content about androgyny and bisexuality, and it’s here that I started to notice the trend. Oh, my pretty boys were just as sexually preoccupied as I had hoped! It echoes a bit of Mindless Self Indulgence, but less manic.
Opticon
I have to admit, I head this one before I bought the album, and I loved it instantly. It’s got a fantastic dance beat and a catchy chorus. It might be about fashion eyewear or something.
Fiction (Dreams in Digital)
This is the song that made me give a crap about Orgy in the first place. It is by far their best song, except maybe for their cover of “Blue Monday” from their previous album. It’s pop at its darkest. And if you’ve even seen the Ghost in the Shell movies (as pointed out to me by Johnny), Orgy’s music video is nearly identical to the intro to the first movie.
If you’ve got the time, or you care, you can compare them here (WARNING: Ghost in the Shell contains boobs):
Eva
This song is actually a little bit sad. It’s about the mother of one of the band members, who died during the making of the album. The harmonies are on the verge of being heart wrenching. For a band that relies on ham-fisted bass melodies and grinding synth as the basis of its songs, something about this one sounds relatively sensitive.
107
No idea what this song is about, but it sounds decidedly sinister. I was driving with this one on the other day and it made me feel rather devious. I half expected to find my Guild of Calamitous Intent membership card next to my driver’s license when I opened my wallet. This song TOTALLY makes me want to cosplay as Triana’s friend with the goggles.
Dramatica
Appropriately enough, this song sounds like it might be about an orgy. It’s a bit mellow compared to the others. It’s not a favorite, but it fits in with the musical theme.
Saving Faces
This marks the beginning of the doldrums of this album. They used all their tricks in the first half. “Dramatica” through “Chasing Sirens” all sound about the same. It’s not a bad sound, but it does get a little tiresome.
Re-Creation
In the words of Murderface: “It just...it just lacks zazz.”
Chasing Sirens
Cool title, but this may be the worst song on the album. Can’t they do a reprise of “Suckerface?”
Where’s Gerrold?
Orgy picks up the cleverness again in this last track, but it’s still not up to the caliber of the first half. It makes a decent end to the album. Apparently, there is a hidden track after this one, but the iTunes version doesn’t have it. Alas. Who knows? It might have made up for the disappointment of the last few tracks. Bonus for the mention of Micronauts.
Overall
Overall, I’m still happy I bought this album. It’s my new cyberpunk soundtrack. Maybe it would have sounded less homogenous and gimicky to me if I hadn’t heard all the synth demos on Garageband first. Oh well-even for a band that tried to sound futuristic, eight years later it feels permanently marked with that Y2K stamp. If it weren’t for the B-side letdown, I would have given it a perfect score. I give it 4 out of 5 perfectly sculpted Jay Gordon eyebrows:
Lately, I’ve been having a bit of a musical regression, listening to stuff that I should have been listening to in middle school but never got around to. Remember Orgy? I do. I remember the first time I saw those MAC-plastered ladyboys on TRL (the real one, with Carson Daly and his black nail polish). I couldn’t tell if the bassist was a boy or a girl. It was awesome. Their video for “Fiction” was CGI as hell, just when all that computer animation stuff was brand new. I was in love, but alas, I was in seventh grade, and with a name like Orgy there was no way Mom was buying me their CD.
So I waited. I downloaded a song or two from Limewire. I watched their videos on Yahoo music. But eventually, like the rest of the world, I lost interest in their androgynous cyberpunk gothpop. Danny Danger soon stepped into Jay Gordon’s glittery vacuum. That is, until I found my old Limewire files on my old desktop and decided to investigate them on iTunes.
Behold! I bought their 2000 album Vapor Transmission, and it was like I stepped back into the past. But retrospect grants us a certain perception that we couldn’t have otherwise...Here’s my review of the album I waited 8 years to hear:
Let’s go track by track as I usually do:
Vapor Transmission
Okay, so who here is keeping up with the new season of the Venture Brothers? Great, me too. There’s a flashback scene where Billy Quizboy is the in the OSI headquarters, being examined by “the nozzle.”
“Vapor Transmission” is essentially 2 minutes and 15 seconds of Jay Gordon and a random woman doing the “nozzle is still calibrating” shtick with some cyberpunk type ambient noises. Not a song, doesn’t count for my review. It does, however, count for epic lulz.
Suckerface
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this song! It’s like I fell into The Fifth Element. Although I have to say, the intro sounds exactly like the Garageband demos for the “dark synthesizer” category.” Camillia, if you’re reading this, it sounds like our Crab song.
The Odyssey
This one’s okay. Anything is a little bit of a downer after “Suckerface.” This album has a lot of lyrical content about androgyny and bisexuality, and it’s here that I started to notice the trend. Oh, my pretty boys were just as sexually preoccupied as I had hoped! It echoes a bit of Mindless Self Indulgence, but less manic.
Opticon
I have to admit, I head this one before I bought the album, and I loved it instantly. It’s got a fantastic dance beat and a catchy chorus. It might be about fashion eyewear or something.
Fiction (Dreams in Digital)
This is the song that made me give a crap about Orgy in the first place. It is by far their best song, except maybe for their cover of “Blue Monday” from their previous album. It’s pop at its darkest. And if you’ve even seen the Ghost in the Shell movies (as pointed out to me by Johnny), Orgy’s music video is nearly identical to the intro to the first movie.
If you’ve got the time, or you care, you can compare them here (WARNING: Ghost in the Shell contains boobs):
Click to viewEva
This song is actually a little bit sad. It’s about the mother of one of the band members, who died during the making of the album. The harmonies are on the verge of being heart wrenching. For a band that relies on ham-fisted bass melodies and grinding synth as the basis of its songs, something about this one sounds relatively sensitive.
107
No idea what this song is about, but it sounds decidedly sinister. I was driving with this one on the other day and it made me feel rather devious. I half expected to find my Guild of Calamitous Intent membership card next to my driver’s license when I opened my wallet. This song TOTALLY makes me want to cosplay as Triana’s friend with the goggles.
Dramatica
Appropriately enough, this song sounds like it might be about an orgy. It’s a bit mellow compared to the others. It’s not a favorite, but it fits in with the musical theme.
Saving Faces
This marks the beginning of the doldrums of this album. They used all their tricks in the first half. “Dramatica” through “Chasing Sirens” all sound about the same. It’s not a bad sound, but it does get a little tiresome.
Re-Creation
In the words of Murderface: “It just...it just lacks zazz.”
Chasing Sirens
Cool title, but this may be the worst song on the album. Can’t they do a reprise of “Suckerface?”
Where’s Gerrold?
Orgy picks up the cleverness again in this last track, but it’s still not up to the caliber of the first half. It makes a decent end to the album. Apparently, there is a hidden track after this one, but the iTunes version doesn’t have it. Alas. Who knows? It might have made up for the disappointment of the last few tracks. Bonus for the mention of Micronauts.
Overall
Overall, I’m still happy I bought this album. It’s my new cyberpunk soundtrack. Maybe it would have sounded less homogenous and gimicky to me if I hadn’t heard all the synth demos on Garageband first. Oh well-even for a band that tried to sound futuristic, eight years later it feels permanently marked with that Y2K stamp. If it weren’t for the B-side letdown, I would have given it a perfect score. I give it 4 out of 5 perfectly sculpted Jay Gordon eyebrows: