Bad Astronaut

Acrophobe (2001)

Anonymous

If you haven't heard of Bad Astronaut yet, you will soon. Just like Foundation, this is a side project. The three members are Joey Cape (Lagwagon), Marko 72 (Swingin Utters, Nerf Herders), and Derrick Plourde (Lagwagon, Mad Caddies).

I've always liked Lagwagon. The best thing about their music is Joey Cape's voice. Without a doubt, he has one of the best voices in punk rock today. As in any of Lagwagon's work, the vocals for Bad Astronaut is top notch and is the most pleasurable thing that comes to mind when you listen to this.

Bad Astronaut is purely very highly experimental in nature. One word describes the music in a nutshell: odd. Longtime fans of Lagwagon may feel somewhat taken aback of what they hear at first. There are some slow numbers that defy meaning. Every once in a while a section of keyboards comes out of nowhere (sounding very Anniversary like) that keeps things interesting.

There are some great covers on this album that are worth mentioning. There are covers of Hedy West's "500 Miles" (trust me you've heard this song before), and Elliot Smith's, "Needle In The Hay". Both covers are excellent and dramatically stand out in comparison to the rest of the album (which is a good thing).

I know people will continue to come back to "Acrophobe" for the superb songwriting. This recording is very clean sounding and features great lyrics.

Besides "Acrophobe", Joey Cape and Bad Astronaut plan to come out with a split EP and full length. Be Sure to keep a look out for these guys.