Isn't it funny how you can use certain things for tasks they weren't originally designed for? Forget the Roland 303 and the saw in your grandpappy's shed, I'm thinking of Nutella. Last week I smeared a whole jar of the stuff on the windshield of my friend's car to remove the excretia of about forty diversely nourished pigeons. Lashings of Nutella and many labored elbow movements later, Julie's windshield was clearer than crystal.

And so it is with this hard techno album. Those of you who don't usually listen to machines shouldn't turn away in disgust. Just how many times can you listen to Wilco's Summer Teeth before all that emotion, those complex arrangements, and that stalwart dedication to art start to give you sonic arthritis? And what about Belle and Sebastian? I love If You're Feeling Sinister as much as the next winsome, never- can- get- a- date weed, but dreams of horses and homoerotic fantasies about the colonel next door get mighty constipating after multiple spins.

This is why you need On Patrol, a Pitchfork- recommended emetic for your ears. So whether you're emo-core or a turbo- nutter techno fiend, the Space DJ'z' Ben Long and Jamie Bissmire cleanse your palette more effectively than a glass of Perrier and a quick bite of a Granny Smith.

The rinsing kicks off in blistering style with the hip-hop- inflected (and unforgivably titled) "Nice Vibes." "Solaris" combines the steroid beats of the Advent with some echoed clanging action borrowed from Maurizio and the Basic Channel massive. And how remarkably relaxing "Solaris" is, too; like travelling on a high speed train and feeling totally at ease, forgetting that you're travelling at 175 mph and a single mistake by the driver or track engineer could blend you, your fellow passengers, and that small town not so far off in the distance with track, train, and sundry metallic objects strewn on the rails.

Though "Tracer" doesn't stray far from Damon Wild's trademark stripped- to- the- basics New York techno, Bissmire and Long add some simple filtering effects to confuse the Daft Punk fans. I'd also like to state that "Descending Life" is as freakish as any recent offering from Underground Resistance, but it's much more sleekly executed and thankfully unencumbered by the Detroit collective's fables of Aqua- humans. Space DJ'z let their techno grimaces slip and get a tad fluffy and Orb-ular on "Space 1999," and persist in their subdued homage to that TV show on the skittering, bleepmatic "Moon Base Alpha."

Meanwhile, back in outer space, "Terror Swarm" lives up to its title too effectively. In fact, the title so exactly matches the onslaught of pummeling kickdrums and armor- piercing shrapnel that describe the hostile cyborg swarm that I must fess up to a reluctance to heap praise upon On Patrol.

Long and Bissmire could have taken the title "Terror Swarm" so much further than the obvious sci-fi scenario they pulled off. They could have threatened us with elements of Cronenberg- esque body horror or John Carpenter- style mood music. Yet, Long and Bissmire seem to enjoy portraying themselves as careful imitators, not as true innovators. I expected more originality from Bissmire since he was a member of Bandulu whose debut album, Guidance, broke as much ground as the Orb had previously done with their classic, Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld.

Nonetheless, On Patrol is as serviceable a collection of club tools as Source Direct's Exorcise the Demons or David Angel's Globetrotting. And don't forget that you can also use the album's mechanical sterility of to sluice out all those lingering Mercury Rev ballads. You can't honestly say that of Looper, now can you?

-Paul Cooper