Powerman 5000 – Anyone For Doomsday?

I think I’m obsessed with the fact that Spider (the lead singer and founder of Powerman 5000) and Rob Zombie are brothers. Before slapping in PM5K’s Anyone For Doomsday? I swore that no matter what the disc sounded like, I absolutely and positively would NOT under any circumstances take the easy road out like every other lazy reviewer and compare Powerman 5000’s sound to White Zombie.

Unfortunately, following that rule left me very little to say. I don’t know if the brothers developed the same sound together or if one imitates the other or if they’ve spent so much time together that their music has melded together into one sound. Regardless of the reason, Powerman 5000’s Anyone For Doomsday? proves that the younger Zombie brother has not fallen far from the tree.

For me, this is a good thing. I love White Zombie. I love Rob Zombie. And after hearing this disc, I love Powerman 5000. I could give a shit who sounds like who, what the new term is for this kind of music, (“Action Rock” is the last one I heard,) or if people think it’s shallow, fake, or meaningless. It grooves, it rocks, and it holds my attention. The fact that this sounds just like a new Zombie album is good news for all of us that are tired of waiting around for, well, a new Zombie album.

I like when bands find their niche and stick to it. I’m not saying every band should record the same album over and over, but I think they make better music when they find their sound and not switch it up on me every album. For that matter, how many times have you bought an album for one song and found that it’s the only good song on an album? Anyone For Doomsday? follows closely in the footsteps of 1999’s Tonight The Stars Revolt!! and 1997’s Mega!!! Kung-Fu Radio. Edgy rock-based tunes with Spider’s voice at the head of this mix make up the 13 tracks on the disc. If I have any complaints about this disc at all, it’s that the album ends on a bit of a down note. Three rather downbeat electronicish songs in a row isn’t a good way to round out eight or nine fast rockin’ tunes! The upbeat songs are relentless, never backing off. Strong guitars and plenty of samples will probably only strengthen the Zombie comparisons.

PM5K have taken another hint from Rob Zombie and have begun infecting the world of video games. Tony Hawk 2 players have been listening to “When Worlds Collide” for a couple of years now, and the brand new Gran Turismo 3 for Playstation 2 contains “Supernova Goes Pop”. As long as it’s not “Dragula”, I’m happy.

“Bombshell” is set to be the first single from the new album, and it is representative of the entire record. Hard driving guitars, industrial sounding drumming, plenty of samples and keyboard work, with Spider One’s vocals layed over the whole thing. And yeah, it does sound just like White Zombie. I mean, JUST like them. If I had heard this single on the radio first, I’d be asking people when the next Zombie album was coming out. I guess all I can say is, there are worse things a band could do than sound like White Zombie.

According to their website, Spider One is also working on designing PM5K “collectibles, toys, backpacks, cd carrying cases” and more. Combine this new product push with their new album and the time seems right for Powerman 5000 to hit the spotlight and for Spider One to finally step out from behind his brother’s shadow.

Tracks:
01. Disease Of Machinery (Intro)
02. Danger Is Go
03. Bombshell
04. The Meaning Of Life
05. Tomorrow Is Yesterday
06. The End Of Everything
07. What The World Does
08. I’ll Try (Interlude)
09. The One And Only
10. Wake Up
11. Rise Alt. Mix
12. Megatronic
13. The Future That Never Was

(Editor’s Note: Despite receiving an advanced copy of the CD, this album was never officially released.)

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