By Scott Roos
Our Grade: B-
The New Daft Punk Ep, the latest outing from Saskatoon based basement dwellers The Faps, is a study in musical mayhem that clearly wears many influences on its tattered sleeves. Featuring four unapologetically eclectic tracks, its greatest strengths lie in its bombastic absurdity. It’s one of those “what will these guys come up with next” type things. It establishes its weirdness credo early and often throughout the course of the short but enthusiastic journey it takes you on.
Kicking off with the jivy little “Deja Vu”, the opener features stylings akin to the vocal gymnastics of Pere Ubu, the math metal twists and turns of The Dillinger Escape Plan, the jazziness of Wazoo era Zappa and the hardcore meat and potatoes insanity of Black Flag - all in just one fucking song. This is pretty much what The New Daft Punk EP does best; it throws a bunch of shit at the wall in hopes that it will stick which, in a weird sort of way, actually sort of does. Sort of...
Strictly speaking, then, The New Daft Punk EP takes a layered approach which is what The Faps have become most known for during their eight years as a unit. It's onion-like in nature so be warned: if you cut into it it more than likely will make you weep. Whether those are tears of joy or are tears of excruciating pain are mainly in the ears of the beholder. More often than not, when it comes to The Faps, it’s both at the same time, but clocking in at a meagre fourteen minutes, The New Daft Punk Ep is still a fun romp to dissect all the same.