Sometimes jam-packed with thundering keyboards and driving drums, at other times ethereal, airy and light, Stereolab's debut album Peng! (1992) captures the thinking man's band at the early stages of it's prolific career. Emulating aspects of the Velvet Underground's strutting rhythms as well as the Moog-happy keyboard euphonies of the early-70s, the avant-pop sonic experimentalist's far left-of-center pop vision has always been something of a love-'em-or-hate-'em proposition. Longtime fans familiar with the band's later work will find interest in this early recording as it includes the moody, cafe-styled "K-Stars" sung fetchingly in French by Leatitia Sadier. There's also the dry, rub-a-dub guitar of "Perversion," which is a dissertation over post-modern music.
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