The Upsidedown - Human Destination

Human Destination (2008, Beat the World Records) The Upsidedown's second studio album. **1/2

The Upsidedown should be commended for writing decent songs, and some might even think to congradulate them on their 'sound.' Thing is, the Upsidedown don't really have one. They dabble in Velvet Underground neo-psychedelia, Stooges garage rock, and early 2000's post-punk. And from song to song they're wildly unpredictable, completely morphing their assumed persona from the preceding track. Human Destination can only truly be described as mind-boggling, as even the band doesn't seem completely sure in what they're doing to the point that they recycle different formats throughout the album; psychedlia, garage, post-punk, in that order, again and again. It's not that the material is bad, it's just that Jsun Atoms' Lou Reed impression works only sometimes, and Human Destination is so disjointed that it functions more as a collection of songs by a band struggling with direction rather than a comprehensive album. If at any point they figure out how to focus, they could be formidable.