Mind Spiders - Furies (Dirtnap, 2018)

Mind Spiders
Furies
Dirtnap
2018

Rating: 7.5 pedantic theme parks out of 10

There’s not nearly enough catchy synth-punk bands in the world for my taste...bands that heard Gary Numan and said “let’s make all of our music sound like that, but more aggressive.”  But at least we have Mind Spiders, who yet again have put out an outstanding collection of just such tunes.  “Furies” kicks off with a driving barnburner titled “Outside,” and never lets up for the duration of it’s half-hour run time.  “No Ground” is the strongest track here, sounding like KMFDM if they were more angry and less dancey.  Any fan of this more recent version of Mind Spiders will be way in on this, as it very much sounds like what they were doing on their last release “Prosthesis.”  These guys deserve a larger audience because these songs are damn good, and fun. 

Mind Spiders - Prosthesis (Dirtnap, 2016)

Mind Spiders

Prosthesis

Dirtnap

2016

Rating: 8 giant codes out of 10

Despite this being their fourth record in five years and having connections to a ton of great bands (Bad Sports, Marked Men, Radioactivity, etc), somehow the Mind Spiders have totally escaped my attention.  It's punk, but that dark, synthy type that I always find myself drawn to.  The Devo-esque music combined with distorted vocals immediately made me think of Jay Reatard's side-project Lost Sounds, some of the heavier moments from Total Control...and hell, maybe one of the closest comparisons might be the late, great Whatever Brains, but I doubt anyone outside of the greater Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area would have any idea what I was talking about.  Either way, this is catchy, good shit - gonna get a lot of spins. 

Mind Spiders - Meltdown (Dirtnap, 2012)

Mind Spiders

Meltdown

Dirtnap

2012

Rating: 6 double angles out of 10

Mind Spiders = Texas-based catchy, driving punk with a pop sheen.  There is also a catchy kraut/psyche vibe to a handful of the songs, "Fall In Line" being the track of this ilk that stands out the most.  The band is headed by Mark Ryan, one of those dudes who is in a thousand bands (Marked Men, High Tension Wires, and surely some others) at once that all sound kind of the same but different enough for fans to need to listen to them all.  This definitely sounds like a Dirtnap record; and a decent one at that, though not groundbreaking by any means.  I think I probably prefer Ryan's High Tension Wires more, but it's a close race.