Faced with a beige album cover offering nothing but for the band’s name, the CD title, and a large face which seemed strangely half-man, half-gorilla in appearance, I was not exactly sure what to expect.
After some quick research on the band’s website, I discovered Threat From Outer Space is a group of four long-time friends from Vancouver who define their style as “a balance between political commentary and comic book fury.” Unfortunately, I found the political commentary too underdeveloped and the “comic book fury” somewhat subdued.
The lyrical tracks are nothing extraordinary, in fact, some are downright challenging to listen to. Threat From Outer Space simply lacks the wit, or the maturity, of similarly styled groups.
That said, I get the impression Threat From Outer Space could be a pleasure to see live and perhaps the translation of the live tracks onto the disc doesn’t do them justice.
The true highlights of the disc are the funky jazz-infused beats, which sparkle on the purely instrumental tracks. The lack of these energy-infused instrumentals is frustrating when contrasted with the comparative abundance of unmoving lyrics.
In all, Threat From Outer Space seems like a group to keep an eye on, although this particular effort could be improved.