Internet rabbit-holes can lead you to some cool places occasionally. Mostly though, once you start down them you are led, either through the comments or who knows how else to someone blaming everything on Space Jews. One long, winding rabbit-hole for me started with Godzilla composer Akira Ifukube and John Carpenter soundtracks, which led to me discovering Sonic State, which led to me finding the amazing Marc Doty (Automatic Gainsay) and his fantastic videos, which led to me getting a Korg MS-20 mini, which led to me looking up bands or songs featuring the MS-20, which led me to Fartbarf. With a name like that, I had to check them out, and I’m so glad I did.

Fartbarf is a hard-funkin’, analog synth band that I can’t get enough of. Or in their words they are “Post-Neanderthal Analogue Synthesists” because they are Neanderthals. Like the fantastic space/surf-rock band Daikaiju, Fartbarf is masked always. The band is 2 dudes on synths, and a live drummer. And they are a dense, groovy, party band that hits so damn hard. You want other instruments aside from synths and drums? Tough shit. You want vocals that aren’t robotic, and run through a vocoder? Go somewhere else. You want some killer party jams, and songs to shake your ass to? Fartbarf has that covered. I think on the podcast I called it, “music from the dance clubs on Cybertron, where the motorcycles are trying to fuck toasters.”

From the first track on the album Dirty Power (and amazing video) Homeless In Heathrow, you are presented with a good, poppy jam, then they kind of push things a bit. My favorite track though is Mission At Hand, with its almost impossibly funky intro, that goes into just a brilliantly crafted song. I’m not exactly the type of guy that can immediately just name the synths I hear always, but it sounds like an ARP Odyssey as the star of that song. All Systems Go! is a killer party jam. The instrumental track Hero Of Time is pretty damn rad (and my alarm in the morning), although part of me doesn’t want to single out tracks too much, because when I’m listening to Fartbarf, I don’t usually just listen to one song, I put the album on and listen straight through.

While I really dug what I heard the first time, they grew on me and grew on me. I’m like full blown Fartbarf obsessed now. Check ’em out at their website and find them on Bandcamp. And stay tuned for another installment of Fartbarf Friday soon.

Stay tuned as well for another episode of the podcast with Chris and I, it’s in the can already. As well as our first ever international Gravy On The Side from the UK! All that, plus I’ve been reading comics!

-Kris