Don't Avoid the Droid

This techno trio will make you want to dance, even when singer Chris Donathen isn't shouting stuff like "Get down girl, shake it, shake it!" over bumping beats and synthesized programming on songs like "Fscene8," which sounds like the sonic stepchild of Cher's "Believe." The crux of every Medic Droid...

By Niki D'Andrea

December 11, 2008

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This techno trio will make you want to dance, even when singer Chris Donathen isn't shouting stuff like "Get down girl, shake it, shake it!" over bumping beats and synthesized programming on songs like "Fscene8," which sounds like the sonic stepchild of Cher's "Believe." The crux of every Medic Droid song is an infectious, relentless beat, decorated with more electronic vocal distortion than all Daft Punk's records combined. Tunes like "Keeping Up With the Joneses" would fit in at any flamboyant dance club, with dashes of '80s New Wave and '90s techno rock (à la Orgy) thrown in. While some may view all this popping electro-dance as effeminate (particularly the band's spirited cover of Madonna's "Into the Groove"), make no mistake: the spiky-haired guys in The Medic Droid are all about aggressive digital seduction, as evidenced by the witty, wired song "Fer Sure," with its refrains of "Fuck me in the backseat" and "No JK JK JK LOLOL." So, go ahead, laugh at the guys in the shiny shirts who are waving their hands in the air and going "doo-doot!" The Medic Droid's music is moving more booties than an underground prostitution ring.
Fri., Dec. 12, 7 p.m., 2008

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Niki D'Andrea has covered subjects including drug culture, women's basketball, pirate radio stations, Scottsdale staycations, and fine wine. She has worked at both New Times and Phoenix Magazine, and is now a freelancer.

Contact: Niki D'Andrea