Once again, I've failed to really realize how good a band is until they go on a long, unexplained hiatus. I had Destroy All Astromen! and Made from Technetium, and played them all the time back in high school. Then I kind of forgot that they existed at all for the past 4 or 5 years.

But looking back, this stuff just tears up everything that the 00's has had to offer. No pretense, no indie posturing, no overhyped bullshit... but they were fun and never took themselves too seriously. You can call their science fiction concepts a schtick but what a fun one it is.

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ijUCUV6VX8Q"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ijUCUV6VX8Q" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xbBSFarEgYg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xbBSFarEgYg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Great videos too ("Lo Batt" is my favorite but the quality of it here is terrible) and from what I've seen, they're great live. Did anyone see them at the Touch & Go fest last summer? I'm starting to think that I should have made a special effort just to go for them.

I love Trans Am but I think I'd take Man or Astro-man? over them on most days.

they're one of my favorite bands and i've seen them 4-5 times (including last year's touch & go anniversary). they're such fun live. i like that they had two phases and both went well - more of a surf-rock band for the first few albums and then more electronics and experimentation ("a simple text file") for the last few. i guess experiment zero was the crossover point for them. also, they were seemingly always releasing something, even if it was just two songs on a comp or single.

Aren't Los Straitjackets in the same category?

Don't forget Servotron.

los straitjackets are in the surf-rock category while servotron was an electronic man or astroman side project. both good, though.

At one point, they were. But they don't have that experimental "space rock" bent that MOAM had.

They are quite possibly the only good band to have ever come out of Auburn (my school). Unless you count the wonder of Toni Tennille.

one of the best live bands ever... i've read on birdstuff's myspace (their drummer) that they'll release a dvd someday.

Yeah they were a great band; and like undo a band I passed up seeing a bunch of times and now I regret it. That early to mid-90's surf revival was a lot of fun. It never really picked up enough steam to implode or turn into a mockery of itself (unlike the Ska scene).

I think my favorite band from that era was probably the Phantom Surfers. Musically, they were pretty traditional, but they did put out some fun concept albums, and they were just a straight up fun band (although I never got to see them live either). One of these days we may need a surf rock thread.

Anyone wanna upload something by them?

"Lo Batt" is catchy as hell. I remember digging it when I saw it on JBTV, I was like 13 or 14. Then I forgot all about them.

I like man or astroman, and i think i know what you mean by "no pretense," but keep in mind that pretentiousness is part of what made them so fun!!!

Selected definitions of pretense from Dictionary.com:



Those all ring true for MoAM.

Of course, I'm cherry picking my definitions...




Maybe i shoulda been an English major --instead i make pretentious posts like this pretending i was one.

Man Or Astroman? is/was a great live act... agree. But going back to the mid-90's I'll take Laika & the Cosmonauts as my preferred surf-type band. Astroman was wilder, but the recordings Laika did were really sweet.

I definitely regret missing them at T&G 25 in order to wait around for Big Black/Shellac. Hell, I missed Negative Approach so I could wait for Scratch Acid! Why couldn't I have been the only person at that festival?

Which reminds me, what are your opinions on Steve Albini? Talentless hack! Gah! Way to completely ruin Flogging Molly's Swagger album! Asshole.

Heh, I was waiting for you to post in this thread. I don't know why but I just figured this was a band that you dug.

Steve Albini? I like Big Black. And other things he worked on too! But I don't know, I have nothing to say about him really.