Watch out, it's the Rock-n-Roll Revenge of the Sci-fi Geeks! Sci-fi surfers Man... or Astroman? claim to be billion- selling gigastars of the future, whose have been stranded on Earth after their spaceship crashed in Alabama; Supernova, a trio that sounds like a kiddie version of the Sex Pistols, hail from the recently obliterated planet Cynot-3. Former members from both bands play in Servotron, whose particular conceit is as a band of robots calling for the annihilation of all humans and domination of the android race. Something tells me that it's only a matter of time before there will be a band for every crackpot idea cooked up in the low- budget science- fiction flicks of the '40s and '50s.

Entertainment Program For Humans (Second Variety), Servotron's second full- length album, is full of surf- flavored Devo- pop complete with kitschy electro- bleeps and robot- flavored vocals. Musically, they manage to wring some cool moments out of their cheap instruments-- "Indeterminate Reconstruction" and "Phonetic Lecture" have a bright futuristic sheen with a touch of Tangerine Dream, and "Embryo Electro" and "Tri-Star Wheel Groove" have that infectious new- wave twitchiness I haven't heard since Brainiac and early Talking Heads. So it's a shame that Entertainment Program For Humans (Second Variety) is only half an hour long.

As for the whole robot schtick, Servotron has the potential to wear thin after a while. They only have one joke, after all, but they're committed to stretching it as far as it will go-- and oddly enough, they come out sounding like a cyber- Public Enemy, arrogantly proclaiming the natural superiority of robots, dissing Uncle Toms who kotow to humans, and bandying about lyrics like "you say equal opportunity/ yet you have a class society" and "civil rights for the uncivilized." Alongside the easy topical humor of "Deep Blue, Congratulations," songs like "I Sing! The Body Cybernetic" come dangerously close to making an important statement about humanity's master- slave relationship with its mechanical creations. Or probably not, but hey, I'm a music critic, I'm supposed to over- analyze things.

-Nick Mirov