Alec Empire

Futurist

[2/5] Remember how Alec Empire and his Digital Hardcore mafia were going to revolutionize punk rock in the ’90s? Of course you don’t-and, now that Empire (vocals, guitars, bass, drums) and co-conspirator Nic Endo (synthesized other stuff) have returned with a drastically slimmer version of their trademark sound, it’s likely you’d spot tails tucked between their legs if the duo had any humility. That aside, Futurist is a decent little rock ’n’ roll record, its recycled proto-punk riffs and programmed beats falling somewhere between Refused and the Hives via Ministry’s mixing board. Want a recommendation? Go full-on futuristic with Futurist and convert the thing to MP3: Spinning on an iPod, visually detached from Empire’s all-caps sloganeering and me-against-the-world lyric sheet, the album holds up well as digital entertainment. It’s when you file it in your CD rack next to 25-plus years’ worth of actual punk-rock progress that the revolution doesn’t sound so revolutionary anymore. Which, come to think of it, is exactly what killed Digital Hardcore the first time around… (DHR) Aaron Burgess