Trans Am

After a whirlwind couple of years that saw them handle everything from a video game soundtrack to an opening slot with Tool, SF/DC's kingpins of tongue-in-cheek synth-rock are back with their 9th album, Thing, on Thrill Jockey. On it, "you get your sci-fi post-rock like 'Space Dock,' which would fit neatly on the Tron soundtrack, and 'Naked Singularity,' which is like the Knight Rider theme turned inside out and remixed with heavy metal drums. For a band that never seemed to take itself all that seriously, the aesthetic decisions Trans Am made ages ago fit with remarkably well with what's going on in music now. The nods to funk, the krautrock rhythms, the hints of electro, the occasional glitch in the beat-- all are just part of indie rock these days. There are times when Trans Am does it better than anyone-- fractured and funky "Arcadia", with its storm of delayed guitar set against locked-in drums and sequencer, is a good example, while "Interstellar Drift" does something similar, only with an insistent motorik bass and drum pulse. ... it's great to hear them again, doing what they do best." --Pitchfork