Rating: NN
And the winner of this year’s Fake Gimmicky Band That Isn’t Funny Any More Award goes to our very own animated duo Prozzäk. On their third album, Simon and Milo (alter egos for Jay Levine and James Bryan McCollom of the Philosopher Kings) have moved away from the Euro-trash techno that made up the bulk of their past work and instead now conjure up the likes of New Order, Depeche Mode and A-ha. The admittedly more melancholic tone occasionally sounds like it could come close to sincerity, but between the massively annoying faux British accents and lame clichés like “I’m a chemical freak, it must be you I’m tripping on,” the album reeks of the whole “dude, it’d be so-o-o funny if we actually recorded these songs” vibe.