*1/2 EC8OR

WORLD BEATERS

(Digital Hardcore)

As is accepted practice amid the anti-nationalist left-wing German riot-noise-with-brutally-chaotic-beatboxes hype that calls itself "digital hardcore," the production on Berlin boy/girl duo EC8OR's sophomore set is a Metal Machine Music blur scratched into oblivion by mechanical safety pins. There are also no song titles as South Park-worthy as EC8OR's (nonetheless unlistenable) 1997 track "Spex Is a Fat Bitch." But that's fine, because rarely have brain-cobweb-clearing, slogan-slinging avant-punk tantrums sounded so sexy. Cute even when she's pissed off, foxy fräulein Gina V. D'Orio squeaks out propaganda mottos like "Kick him in the face!" and "Why waste my time!", throwing her X-Ray-Spex-phat little-girl yell into no-wave seizures, breathy scatology, catchy counting songs, and a social-diseased redo of "Dirt" by the Stooges. I just wish I knew whether the parts where my CD gets stuck repeating individual notes like a busted washing machine were on purpose.

-- Chuck Eddy