Trans Am

Sex Change starts off re-exploring Trans Am's journeys on the Autobahn, as the echo of Afrobeat guitars washes over the lull of a trance-inducing synth riff. But they move on quickly while keeping the synth front and center on "North East Rising Sun," where droning psychedelic vocals tug against a...

By Ed Masley

March 1, 2007

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Sex Change starts off re-exploring Trans Am's journeys on the Autobahn, as the echo of Afrobeat guitars washes over the lull of a trance-inducing synth riff. But they move on quickly while keeping the synth front and center on "North East Rising Sun," where droning psychedelic vocals tug against a percolating beat. And by the third track, it's as though they've gone electro-funk. But then the music keeps evolving, adding deadpan vocals, a wall of percussion, and blurts of Belew-esque guitar, until it almost sounds like Talking Heads as raised in East L.A. There's no real unifying theme here — not unless it's an unwillingness to stay in one place long enough for anyone to get a bead on what they're doing, cutting straight from the heavy arena-rock feel of "Conspiracy of the Gods" to "Exit Management Solution," where the synth line works the melancholy side of '80s techno-pop as Asia understood it. Could it use a little focus? Maybe. But there's clearly something to be said for a record whose highlights can range from the vocoder melody topping the disco beat of "Climbing Up The Ladder (Parts III and IV)" to the explosive prog-on-punk attack of "Shining Path."

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