Slug Review

Maniqui Lazer
I Learn Everything on TV
Soundsister
Street: 08.15
ML = Chinese Stars + Agape + XBXRX
The modern sound of punk that has been festering for years in San Diego inside the likes of The Locust, The Plot to Blow Up The Eiffel Tower, and 31G Records’ roster has found its way past customs and infected Mexicali’s Maniqui Lazer. Three seemingly pleasant boys now succumb to fits of screaming, dancing, and demolishing electronic instruments to a catchy drumbeat. Once exhausted, they twiddle knobs on keyboards to create sparse instrumentals here and there, which all descend into confusion. At its apex, the disease turns the boys into suave killers. They charm and sexify their victims with cryptic, spoken lyrics, then slice them to bits with a knife pulled from behind the bass guitar’s neck, while the music blasts into cacophony and the crowd burns down the building. –Nate Martin