With the fall of the punk movement in the late 1970s, a new movement called post-punk rose from the ashes, blending elements from punk and the rising new wave movement.
One of the bands at the frontline of this movement was the Pop Group. Their debut album “Y” showed great potential from the group to become one of the best bands of this brief era. Unfortunately, the band broke up in 1981 and didn’t reunite for almost 30 years.
“Honeymoon on Mars” is the second LP from the Pop Group since their reformation, and it only proves that some classic bands just aren’t meant to stay together forever.
A science-fiction concept album, this record delves deeply into the avant-garde and experimental in terms of its production and instrumentation. And, for the most part, it sounds great.
Hank Shocklee, member of hip-hop production team the Bomb Squad and producer of this album, finds some inventive uses with bass, orchestration and even EDM in order to make “Honeymoon on Mars” truly sound more different than any other post-punk album.
However, when compared to other sci-fi records like the Misfits’ “Walk Among Us” or the Mars Volta’s “De-Loused in the Comatorium,” this LP falls flat in both creativity and listenability.
The Pop Group seemed to be so focused on presenting a “unique” album that they forgot to supply its audience with any sense of variety. Every single track on this record sounds like it followed the same blueprint with little-to-no deviation — repeated phrases, spoken-word verses and enough unnecessary noise and distortion to make Rick Rubin jealous.
The themes of “Honeymoon on Mars” are nothing new. Alienation, anti-war and anti-capitalism have been at the foreground of punk since its conception. While groups like the Clash and Dead Kennedys explored these ideas in depth, the Pop Group merely traces their finger across the surface.
In many ways, this album could work well as the soundtrack of some low-budget horror movie. If the Pop Group plays their cards right, they could very well be the next Goblin. Both groups work better as background noise than those worthy of serious musical analysis.
Austin Faulds
afaulds@indiana.edu
@a_faulds9615
