Daft Punk's "Aerodynamic" has rightly drawn praise of its use of 80's metal guitar soloing in a dance-pop setting. Emperor Penguin has shown similar courage in using elements from played-out styles that were never considered "cool." Their last album featured goofy guitar lines seemingly inspired by the soundtrack work of Kenny Loggins and John Parr-- music that has never, ever been hip. It didn't always sound great, you understand, but you had to admire the guts and the clever way they incorporated these sounds.

This four-song EP finds Emperor Penguin moving further in a rock direction. On two songs, they're even backed by guitar, bass and drums, joined by members of their touring band. The result, not surprisingly, sounds a lot like Trans Am, without the full-on rock power or the tender understanding of computer love. Where I come from, we call a lesser Trans Am a Camero, and you'd never see Burt Reynolds behind the wheel of one of those. But Damn is an occasionally fun little ride.

Emperor Penguin is still forcing the humor here. Witness titles like "Disco Party in the Castle of Love (Tonight)." But the tune itself is worthwhile, and the synthesizers in particular are beyond excellent. They're so 80's it hurts, but again, not the 80's most people want to remember. The tone of the synth pattern is charmingly naïve in its earnestness, recalling Corey Hart or Berlin. The title words are spoken repeatedly through a vocoder (natch), funny enough if you're into that sort of thing. Still, that keyboard line is brilliant.

"Echoes of Pumford" is another full-band track, this one an epic instrumental with a plaintive Moog out in front. "Neighborhood Watch (We Call Police)" brings things back to just Mel Stanke and Lazlo Minimart, a much superior line-up for Emperor Penguin, in my opinion. Freed from the live band setting, the duo feels free to explore more production tricks. Adding a little funk to the mix and some odd processing to the vocals, the song manages to retain some humor while conveying genuine atmosphere. And the false ending followed by the sound of police sirens is inspired musical humor. "Wizard Dude" rounds out the album by sounding like the theme from "Barney Miller" as performed by a wedding band on Quaaludes.

Does it sound 80's? Sure. Does it sound new wave? Not really, no. But even if the music here is of mixed quality, that in itself is some sort of accomplishment. Emperor Penguin are following their own path, so you have to understand if they hit an occasional dead end.

-Mark Richard-San