**1/2 Boom Boom Satellites

OUT LOUD

(Epic)

Like Godzilla in the nuclear age, the Boom Boom Satellites have risen from the dark waters of Japan, spawned by Western technology and club culture. British big beat is fused with monstrous breakbeats on Out Loud (Epic), a somewhat unwieldy conglomeration of chunky guitar riffs, space-age bleeps, and frenetic scratches layered over schizophrenic grooves. The duo, Michiyuki Kawashima (vocals and guitar) and Masayuki Nakano (bass, drums, and DJ), aren't confrontational in the abrasive Japanese noise-rock tradition. Rather, heavy punk guitar and occasional hoarse vocals are blended into seductive, ever-shifting electronic washes, producing a smooth yet startling fusion of samples, live instrumentation, drum 'n' bass, and straight rhythms. Like a more experimental Asian Dub Foundation or Beck for the raver set, the Satellites follow the increasingly familiar electro-rock third way, using a pastiche of yesterday's revolutionary sounds to communicate, with rhythm and texture rather than words, their vision of the future. Strains of jazz and hip-hop can also be heard throughout, but the album is most effective in the way it serves up the simple pleasures of beats and ethereal clutter, techno and otherwise.

-- Nick Catucci