Spezmodia… You know, it’s like a cross between spez and modia

Review: Mouse on Mars – Spezmodia EP

Published on January 13th, 2014 | Jonny Abrams

The colours, textures and skittering beats of Mouse on Mars’s monumental 2012 album Parastrophics were still ringing in our ears when we took in their WOW mini-album of last year, so the abrasiveness of their new EP Spezmodia is just what we need to clear the decks.

Opening track “Bakerman is Breaking Bad” isn’t just another great Mouse on Mars title – it’s also a gurgling, squelching, lunatic’s techno rave, more closely aligned perhaps with the German duo’s ‘difficult’ 2006 LP Varcharz.

“Cream Theme” wields the kind of blaring rainbow synths that lit up Parastrophics, stabbing and juddering away over a jittery rhythm section, while the title track sends clacking percussive elements whirring upwards as a kind of inverse take on “German Clap” by compatriots Modeselektor, whose Monkeytown label they now reside on.

As a fitting finale to Spezmodia and an apt title in its own right, “I See Dizzy” seems to mash up all of the above, sending us off titillated yet jonesing for more of the full sensory overload you only get with a full-length Mouse on Mars album.

In short: more Mouse, more Mars and more music, bitte!

Spezmodia will be released on January 10th by Monkeytown Records.

You can buy Spezmodia on iTunes and on Amazon.

Rocksucker says: Three and a Half Quails out of Five!

a quail a quail a quail half a quail

Artists: mouse on mars

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.