Pitchshifter have explored polemic techno, bass and drum, grungecore, and heavy computers. Deviant displaces them in the neverland between industrial metal, agitpunk, and pop. Sounding like the very model of the modern punk band, the right but trite "As Seen On TV" even sports a guest spot by Jello Biafra commenting on Colombine--"What makes them do it? Video games? Marilyn Manson? It can't be the parents…"
Less dire than their smarter cousins Nine Inch Nails, Pitchshifter manage some contrived cleverness and a running theme encouraging deviation. Yet the wah-wah guitar and Killing Joke (remember them?)-funky bass of "Dead Battery" screams active rock. "Stranger" actually sounds like a Black Sabbath reject. There's not a whole lot here that hasn't been done long before, and lots better. Aside from NIN and Killing Joke, their palette includes a dash of PiL snottiness, recycled quasi-metal guitar licks, compunoises and an interesting blend of programmed and live drums, but they don't mix up anything uniquely and distinctly their own. Perhaps, in pointing out the benefits of being deviant, they might have tried it themselves.
All recordings courtesy of MCA Records. All songs written by J.S. Clayden, J. Davies; courtesy of EMI Blackwood Music, Inc. (BMI).
