There's something slow burning about Plus Eight's mixture of hardcore and krautrock dynamics, but while their appeal builds its head of steam gradually, once it hits its groove, the hooks are dug into you so deep that you have no choice but to be swept along. There's a pain and anguish in the vocals that might condemn this as emo were it not for the edgy funk of the bass and the wired guitar delivery, but it's the drumming that's the real star of this CD, especially on "Lego", where a jazzy Can groove serves as the launchpad for an extended space-punk freakout. There are a series of promising looking live shows coming up in Tokyo throughout March and you'd be well advised to check any of them out. -Ian Martin, Feb.22.05.

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