The Rundown: Combichrist "What the Fuck is Wrong With You People?"

"It's funny how Andy has become the hero of goths everywhere, since he acts like the jock in high school that they always complain about. He parties hard, drinks hard, is a big beefy dude and loves sluts." - DJ Sound.Wav

I don't know when it happened exactly, but it seems like Andy Laplegua's Combichrist persona has become the hottest shit to hit the Goth/Industrial club scene since welding goggles. Kind of odd considering the fact that like all the Icon of Coil singer's side-projects, it doesn't really seem to have it's own identity. Truthfully, whether recording as Combichrist, Panzer AG or Scandy, Laplegua seems to just do whatever he's interested in at the time without much regard for establishing what each 'brand' is supposed to represent musically. Thus far from Combichrist we've had an album with a Noisex-like blend of Electro and Power Noise ('The Joy of Gunz') and a largely instrumental collection of techno-fied club bangers (the ultra-popular, ultra-dumb "Everybody Hates You"). Considering that, it's pretty strange to think that "What the Fuck is Wrong With You People?" is so hotly anticipated by the club kids. For all we know Andy could have decided to make an electro-polka record.

DISCLAIMER: This is not intended to be a serious critical review in any sense, so much as it is a casual overview of the album on first listen.

5 A.M. AFTERPARTY

The obligatory, unecessary intro track. Apparently Andy has been making prank phone calls.

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?

The soon to be ubiquitous title track, somewhat reminiscent of Panzer AG's 'This is My Battlefield'. It's big, catchy and undeniably anthemic without resorting to the sweeping faux-grandeur of Futurepop. I dropped it at Sanctuary last night, people are already packing the dancefloor for it, shouting along to the chorus.

ELECTROHEAD

An instrumental version of this stompy club jam was released on the Industrial for the Masses Vol. 3 compilation a few months back, but didn't do all that much for me. This version with the addition of vocals seems way better, I'm starting to think it's actually the singing that tips these songs over from okay to entertaining.

ADULT CONTENT

You know, I get the impression that Andy thinks he's being kind of risque when he writes songs with cusswords in them. Also, I could be wrong but I think the 'Parental Advisory' warning on the album cover isn't a legit RIAA sticker, which is pretty hilarious. Anyways, this song is instrumental, and sounds like an outtake from the last album.

FUCK THAT SHIT

This is pretty fun and noisy. Word to Frank Booth.

BRAIN BYPASS

This is pretty boring and also 8 minutes long. Samples about drugs over a middling electro-beat. Whereas the album up 'til this point had been going at a brisk enough clip to ignore some of it's musical shortcomings, this derails things somewhat. If you listen to albums on your mp3 player, make a playlist and leave this off or stick it on the end for a superior listening experience.

GET YOUR BODY BEAT

Slightly different intro and outro than the single version released in '06, but otherwise the same enormous song we've been hearing for over half a year. This is possibly one of the best big dumb dancefloor tracks of the decade.

DEATHBED

Holy shit, this one starts off sounding kind of like "Too Dark Park"-era Skinny Puppy before going into a more terror EBM stylee. Totally unexpected and pretty great. Also, doesn't seem like it's trying all that hard to be a club song which is a nice change of pace.

IN THE PIT

Kind of aimless and lyrically profane but not terrible or anything. I stand by my earlier assertion that Andy's vocals can sell a song that would otherwise be fairly mediocre.

SHUT UP & SWALLOW

This one has a nice build before blasting off. It's probably a little long for what it is, but it fits nicely as the beginning of the final third of the album. Getting head seems to be the unofficial theme of this record.

RED

A slower, more shouty number. Perfectly serviceable. Bonus Industrial points for rhyming "auto-erotic" and "neurotic".

ARE YOU CONNECTED

This song title should really have a question mark at the end of it. But we'll overlook that as this zesty slice of EBM (which is not so far musically from some of the more aggresive Icon of Coil tracks actually) is just so darn enthusiastic.

GIVE HEAD IF YOU GOT IT

Oh wow. This transcends stupidity and enters the realm of the sublime. Andy wants sluts to give head, and doesn't mind saying so. Not since Funker Vogt's 'Shaven' has an attempt at irony been bungled so as to appear completely straight with such entertaining results. This is somehow completely awesome. An album highlight.

ALL YOUR BASS BELONG TO US

Although a quick google search yields no pertinent results, I can't believe this is the first time someone has used this as a song title. It doesn't have any vocals to speak of on it which is kind of disappointing, but is actually pretty solid anyways.

COMMENTARY: About as good as any club oriented record ever is with some outstanding moments. Get ready to hear "What the Fuck is Wrong With You?", "Electrohead" and God willing "Give Head if You Got It" a whole lot in '07.

Combichrist @ Myspace.