Parastrophics

Released

In the six years since they released Varcharz, the core members of Mouse On Mars had been busy – working with Mark E. Smith of The Fall in Von Südenfed; Jan St. Werner recording solo as Lithops and Neuter River; Andi Toma producing Junior Boys, Dogr, The Fall and Andreas Dorau. Creatively voracious and impatient by nature, when they returned with Parastrophics, they’d made another significant leap forward, though this time their music seemed more aligned with its times (cf. the hyper-kinetic maximalism of producers like Rustie). Parastrophics is a cornucopia of delight, from the plasticine funk of “Syncropticians” through the weird, tiki-goes-electro buzz of “Chordblocker, Cinnamon Toasted”, but they save the best for last, on the juddering, hyper panic attack of “Baku Hipster”, followed by “Seaqz”’s relentless, metallic acid.

Jon Dale