"This is some of the harshest, punch in the throat dance music I have ever heard."
- Michael Ferentino (Bedtime for Robots)

"Well. There is nothing about either the band name or album title that does not colour me exceptionally intrigued here. A cursory bit of research reveals that Modwump advertise as a steampunk/electronica duo from Doncaster, England. I like them already. And I've never even been to Doncaster. Coupled with the fact this album is released through Black Box Recordings who I'm aware of as a quality netlabel, this is showing great promise. So let's get going, shall we?!
After a brief intro we get into "Pitbull Wizard". Great play on words and a great start to proceedings. Hardcore as ****, with only a passing nod to a melody, it grabs me immediately by the short and curlies. As an interesting aside, I've just noticed the band put the BPM of each track in with the title. This is 89bpm and the follow up track, "Tamagochi Harakin" is 110! This track is a great piece of glitch work, reminds me a little bit of Yello. "Tokyo Metro Gas Attack" is up next and it's a stonker. Huge beats with loads going on underneath - this is what I'm loving about the album so far, each track progresses without being repetitive, there's something new to pick up on virtually every bar.
"Schindler's Lisp" (some of these puns are almost as good as the music!) is next, a slower, more deliberate track but still inkeeping with the flow that we've settled into. "American Ugly" comes next as it's my favourite thus far. And only weights in at a jaw-dropping 44bpm!! This has some superb synth work underneath the multi-layered rhythms going on. We continue this into the next track, "R.S.I.".
"Tinnitus" is up next. The title is an apt warning for anyone who is averse to certain frequencies. I will admit to having to skip that one for precisely that reason! We're back on track with the next track though, "Papier Mache". Both this and the follow up "Freq. Out" are slower tracks but no less brilliant. We get a real feel for the bands' mastery of their craft and these two are addictive without being formulaic.
We segue very neatly into the next track "The Flat Earth Coin-Push Conspiracy". This one's a bit tough on the ears, it lacks the framework of some of the prior tracks. Never fear though as "Schrodinger's Catheter" is up next (these guys deserve props for their song titles alone). It has a lot of the arythmia of it's predecessor but with a little more cohesion. "Too Cool For Church" is upon us next. This hits me like Psychic TV on cocaine, a most excellent track. We go into a track called "Polaroid Schitzophrenic" next. This is one of those great tracks that builds itself from the ground up. We're treated to a brief interlude in "Autoblahblahblah" - I love the vintage synth undercurrent on this. It's over much too quickly!
"Ant In The Afterbirth" comes next (just in case you thought they weren't going to get any stranger with their titles!) and it's a superb Chiptune-orientated entry. I do think Chiptune is quite an underrated style and these guys utilise it superbly. "Whistler's Motherboard" follows it and another top-notch affair it is too. The proceeding "Fustercluck" is one of the fastest on the album, weighing in at 170bpm and is followed by "Cull Of The Mudhoppers" which again showcases the band's ease at creating random soundscapes where you don't know where you're headed from one note to the next.
"Trumps Scamdemic" follows and it's a sweeping cacophony of sound. "Babylon Zoetrope" is up afterwards and it returns us to the earlier sounds which again are reminiscent of Yello but after an extreme drugs binge. It works but it shouldn't! The longest track on the album (7 minutes 29 seconds) is upon us now pithily titled "Enema Of The State", we follow this with an outro track called "Albino Moontan" and a bonus remix (the SCHTUMMM Slow Dancehall Mix) of "Babylon Zoetrope"
To sum up, "Brain Salad Circuitry" is a cracking album, expertly crafted and finely produced. It's often a disorientating listen but unlike some albums I've heard that alienate the listener with this technique, MODWUMP take you with them on their journey through sonic insanity. There's one or two duff tracks but when you're looking at an album with 24 of them, that's a top notch return on your investment - which by the way is a measly five British pounds. It's worth the money. A solid 8/10 from me.
__The Forecast - 8/10