He wears masks on his shoulders and big, black goggles on his face – the better to electrify you with. He comes at you like Abobo with a drum machine. Mach FoX is on the frontlines as man and machine sonically duke it out, but which side is he on? The electro-rocker has brought his electronic mash-ups into 2006 with a new band and a new record, a self-titled collection of goth-tinged synthpop sounds that will have you dancing jerkily about in no time.

The CD kicks off with "Run 4 the Prize," a fuzzy-beat and new wave guitar-driven number slathered with the 'VoX' stylings of Mach, guitarist Adam01 and TeA, whose icy pipes declare "a little strange will do you good." Mach's robotic vocal effects are only natural on the follow-up track, "AXion FriXion," which fondly recalls Thomas Dolby.

Things get a little darker farther into the disc. Samples and mechanical voices churn in the rapid, angry swirl of "Upsidedown." An industrial edge comes in with "The Subversives" and "Favourite Photo," which begins with the sound of what seems to be an orgasmic slot machine and evolves in a Gary Numan-inspired clash of guitar and drumbeats. French artist and former tour mate Severin24 puts a dreamy twist on a remix of the album's "Fast, Fallaway."

Camp and novelty are inevitable anytime humans put on the robot suit, but those things are fun and different and that's always a good thing. JN

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