Having the good sense to rob not just one grave but a whole cemetery, Go-Go Sapien follow 2009’s Merman with a second album of B-movie garage that’s trippy, tongue-in-cheek and altogether free-ranging in its cherry-picking. All walks of pop culture (surf rock, pulpy sci-fi, celebrity worship, druggy psychedelia, British Invasion, etc.) are smeared into songs well-produced and robustly written; as much raucous, keyboard-driven instrumentation as there is, these tunes could easily thrive as acoustic skeletons. Topped with frontman Will Hindmarsh’s exaggerated rock swagger – both vocally and lyrically – they graduate to lurid confection.

It’s not exactly serious, then. The reversal, “I don’t think/Therefore I am not”, in ‘Recreational Derelict’ even announces the Melbourne band’s winking perversity. ‘Celebrities Are Your Gods Now’ later flirts with a Regurgitator level of snark, while the dole entry ‘Instant Welfare Centre’ is straighter than expected. Most songs have a galactic or horror bent – from the synth-serrated ‘Interzone’ and the punchy ‘Full Frontal Lobotomy’ to the highlight ‘Altered Ego’ and the reverbed pop sing-song of ‘Science Friction’. Silliest of all is ‘Hatewind’, complete with chain-gang toiling and a vocal growl that sounds lifted from an old monster movie or a Grinderman album.

Speaking of monster movies, there’s a 47-minute film of the same name mirroring the album on DVD. Written and directed by Hindmarsh himself and starring bassist Kal Salter, This Body Is Wrong For Us follows Salter’s character on a quest to avenge his murdered wife and cease the omnipresent songs (in different order than the CD) that have appeared out of nowhere. It’s chockers with cameos – Dave Graney, Laura Jean, Kim Salmon, The Bedroom Philosopher, Liz Stringer, Van Walker, The Dacios’ Linda Johnston and many more – and proceeds from an absurd revenge tale into a gleefully no-budget DIY grotesque. From a goofy mocking of 1800s English society to some surreal animation by Kashka Hardy, it’s a ridiculous experience in which the ever-blaring songs require subtitled dialogue – itself the source of a running joke.

While Graney’s mock outrage in the movie is just that – “It’s the most obnoxious music I’ve ever heard!” he condemns – Go-Go Sapien certainly stand out from other bands with both their half-joke songwriting and this batshit turn at filmmaking.

by Doug Wallen