Papa Universe
former sputnik\'s home post-punk maester
User

Reviews 123
Approval 95%

Soundoffs 238
News Articles 11
Band Edits + Tags 250
Album Edits 1,483

Album Ratings 0
Last Active 12-23-19 9:27 pm
Joined 09-16-14

Review Comments 22,503

 Lists
01.10.20 paps runs through his favs real quick (12.07.19 just gonna put this here to remember
07.17.19 On Hip-Hop07.08.19 June 2019 resumé
07.03.19 Actual User Appreciation Thread06.30.19 JULY19 Songs of the Day
06.26.19 Unknown Post-Punk #406.13.19 Papa's Wifey's List of Favs
06.08.19 May 2019 resumé06.07.19 Sputnik R.I.P. list
06.03.19 mid-year metal rundown05.29.19 another one of those bm threads
05.27.19 Unknown Post-Punk #3 05.23.19 looking for an album/band
05.22.19 stuff my cat seems to like05.08.19 recent black metal demos and lo-fi nons
05.05.19 April 2019 resumé05.03.19 Sput's 2019 Random-Album-Review 2019 Ga
More »

SIX FINGER SATELLITE: Don't you forget us #8

Eighth instalment in my forgotten/dismissed/underappreciated Post-Punk bands list series: I've had my hesitations regarding making an episode about this band, because they aren't directly Post-Punk. They're more of an Experimental Noise Punk band that borrows heavily from Post-Punk (their Wiki page describes them as synthesiser-based Post-Hardcore... huh). But it's my series and I say "Good enough!"
9Six Finger Satellite
Machine Cuisine


It's hard to pick a real slip-up in this band's career. It's actually almost impossible. So how do you pick a "worst" record? Logically, you'll only have to rely on the songwriting merits and compositional strength. This EP isn't bad. But it is short and the songs on it are nobody's first choice of recommendation. They feel more like obscure deep cuts from a full album, but not standalone products from a record designed to function perfectly in a shorter format. This is an EP preceding their ultimately game-changing album Severe Exposure and its dismal futuristic themes certainly indicate that fully. But it feels more like a taster of what's to come, rather than a full experience.

Go-to tracks: Hans Pocketwatch, White Temples
8Six Finger Satellite
Clone Theory


Full normalisation mode - ON. The songs are basically back to that good old Punk sound. It's still the kooky weirdness Paranormalized was filled with, but it has a strangely tingled atmosphere of regularity. As if the band wanted to dial back on their previous absurd delivery and pursue a slightly more ordinary, albeit still off-the-wall almost psychotropic music.

Go-to tracks: Ich Weil Nacht, Valley of the Monkey God, I Want Night (It Ends Tomorrow)
7Six Finger Satellite
Severe Exposure


Screeching, connivingly demonic and industrially psychotic in all of its forms. This is a beastly record that is as ugly and hard to digest as it is inherently intriguing and magnetically captivating. There is an indescribable weirdness and almost horrifying insanity to this record. It's an album preceding all of those modern day Industrial Noise Punk acts and it is a perfect addition to anyone's earpiercing catalogue.

Go-to tracks: Parlour Games, Pulling a Train, Board the Bus
6Six Finger Satellite
Half Control


Here is where the band went all out Stoner and Garage. Any past Post-Punk, Noise, Psych and Industrial influences are now officially left behind. This is a straightforward Rock album with a little spiked production. Does that mean it's bad? Hell no! Atmospherically it is still that good old 6FS madness, except this time with a heavier mix and muddier instrumentation. It is odd to hear a band like that do something like this. And it's weird to listen to this album too. On one hand, it is Stoner for the hardcore stoners to stone to. On the other hand, it is not the most desirable direction the band could have taken. Stoner-Noise? It's just... it's... well... It sounds great, it is fun to listen to, so I suppose I have no problem, but it is weird to grasp nevertheless.

Go-to tracks: Thrown Out, Half Control, A Tighter Passage, Bored Oracle
5Six Finger Satellite
A Good Year of Hardness


Good news, the Noise is back and the Stoner is not the primary focus on here, it's actually more psychedelic than anything else. It is still quite hard (as the title implies) and it is also very much similar to Half Control, but the sound is now way more grounded and the band's usual Heavy Psych-like craziness is officially back. There isn't really a whole lot to talk about with this record, other than that it is a solid record of mostly dizzying tracks. It is an essential listen to the band's fans, but it also might be the worst place to start for any newcomers.

Go-to tracks: Hot Food, Wilson P, Half Life
4Six Finger Satellite
Law of Ruins


The band had several stages. They went from straightforward over-the-top Punk, through humorous anarchist days, over the futuristic dilettantism to some psychedelic mashup. And it seemed time and time again that they struggled to combine all of those directions into one, with each attempt always falling into one of the categories more than into any other. Law of Ruins is the first album you could call successful in that manner. But that does not mean that they managed to put all of those styles into one cohesive structure, rather they made an ultimate hodgepodge of every direction they ever took and called it an album. It's an interesting mix and an intiguing concept to make an album partially crazy Garape ride and partially some weird space opera journey, but on the other hand it also feels a little out of touch and directionless. It's fun for what it is, but it also suffers from its conceptual dissonance.

Go-to tracks: Race Against Space, Law of Ruins, New Kind of Rat, Bad Aptitude
3Six Finger Satellite
The Pigeon Is The Most Popular Bird


Usually the transition stages tend to be products first to be dismissed and usually its rightfully so. For the most part they serve mostly as appetisers to what's to come, so that your ears had an easier adaptation to the new sound the artist is taking. But somehow Six Finger Satellite managed to create an absolute madness of an album. This is basically a moment between their rather straightforward Punk approach on Weapon EP and the industrialised Obscurity they started serving around Severe Exposure. But they still managed to create a typically 6FS-like grotesque spectacular. It's deafening in its cynicism and crippling in its unpleasantness. The album just works as a fun dystopian satire on the verge with some kind of twisted horror. It's hard to draw the line there in this instance.

Go-to tracks: Laughing Larry, Deadpan, Love (Via Satellite), Save the Last Dance for Larry, Takes One to Know One
2Six Finger Satellite
Paranormalized


This is quite a short album, but no less compelling. There is a strong feeling of fun and play in all this rapidity. Seems like the band tried to combine the crispness of the Weapon EP with the comical brutishness of their first album. The result is a swift and striking album that might give you a headache from all of its craziness, but will also drag you into its inherently ludicrously hellish, overly technical world. And it is as fun to explore as it is thrilling to encounter all of its seemingly dangerous goofiness. By the way, does anybody else see the similarities between this and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard?

Go-to tracks: 30 Lashes, Last Transmission, The White Shadow, Paralyzed by Normal Life, Padded Room
1Six Finger Satellite
Weapon


Opened with an EP, closed with an EP. Harsh, drilling and powerful. When Six Finger Satellite first bursted onto the musical scene, nobody expected this kind of sound. It was raunchy, tough as nails and absolutely staggering. It wasn't necessarily absolutely original, as sound like this has been perfected and worked with before on multiple occasions, but their energy and the raw power of it all was so nauseating that it couldn't not leave an impact. There is hardly a tune out of place, there is not misplaced track. It's a perfectly cohesive four-parter with near-perfect pace and absolutely skinning energy. Goddamn immaculate and engrossing. (While we're at it, Shimkus Yell is one of the best Punk songs ever)

Go-to tracks: Weapon, Niponese National Anthem, Shimkus Yell, Polish the Shine (Satchmo)
Show/Add Comments (54)

STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy