Having swept in on the coat-tails of the garage-rock surge, mad-eyed Aussies ROCKET SCIENCE are already thrillingly challenging their boundless energy into new manic directions after the blueprint-hugging sonic barrage that was their "Welcome Aboard The 3C-1O" debut.
Led very much from the front by the immortally-named, big organ-toting Roman Tucker, t'Science are making impressive strides with "Contact High": an impressive sophomore album that happily alchemises the band's intrinsic energy with a restless desire to discover the new.
Sure, Tucker's groovily retro Yamaha is a key player, and you can't argue that tunes such as "Run Like A Gun", the great, propulsive opener "Heavy Traffic" and the full-throttle live forever-isms of "Going Away" all make like Inspiral Carpets with jet packs shoved up their anal passages (a good thing, I assure you), but that's by no means the whole picture.
Recent single "Being Followed" added some slinky spice to the Rocket Science stew and "Contact High"s major successes usually come when they embrace curve-throwing. To this end, try the funky drummer inflections of the neat "One Robot"; the insistent "Open Air Channel" - featuring Dave Gray's cool, melody-hugging basslines; the tricky rhythms, atmosphere and deep black holes of "Hyperspace" and the dramatic, spy theme instrumental "Tomorrow's Soundtrack For Today's Swinging Generation" that serenades us out into the night. Indeed, the only time it falls flat is with "Crazy", which is so desperate to raise a ruck it implodes on the launchpad.
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So yeah, "Contact High" is still one mad headfuck of an album, but if you read the vital signs you'll discover Rocket Science are quickly adapting as clued-in sonic technicians rather than just remaining as sloppy space cadets. On this form, they certainly won't burn out on re-entry.
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