On
Game Program, Detroit's
W-Vibe utilizes a wealth of electronic instruments to create a stew of playful and unique sounds. The duo of Dan Augustine and Joe Hornacek are joined by an eclectic cast of friends on the 20-song collection. Vocals first appear on the second track, "Tape Like Cross." The vocals are electronically altered, as are most of the vocals on the disc. The band assembled an enthusiastic fan base with their incessantly goofy live shows, where the duo dresses up in blue jogging suits and aluminum foil-wrapped helmets. On record, their playfulness translates differently. That playfulness is focused, like the best of
Ween. Augustine narrates a tale on "Japanese Monster Story." "Astronaut Face" is one of the group's most popular live songs, and the backing vocals by Chris Sprague and Larissa Funyak add a liveliness to the recording. On "Universal Radar," Rachel Angelini whispers a haunting series of vocals as subtle blips and bleeps serve as the song's foundation. The mood of the album is a childish one, full of sound experiments, like on "Fat Balloon," "Vocabulary Teeth," and "Cocoa Puffs." On "Video Game Champ," the band's true passion comes out. More than anything,
W-Vibe is a product of incessant video game playing in their formative years of the 1980s. This explains their use of Atari sound effects and the image of a retro video arcade on the back of the disc. Many of the songs seem to be elaborate inside jokes, but the band is able to make it all entertaining more often than not. Throughout the disc,
W-Vibe uses a variety of keyboards and sound effects, in addition to a voice mutator, theremin, and samples. The songs were mostly recorded at Michigan's Davies Production Studio. The disc was released in 1999. ~ Stephen Cramer