Hamster Dragster: Songs of Loss and Despair

I’m not entirely sure what would convince someone to release an EP like this. Songs of Loss and Despair is passable musically, if a little on the patchy side, as they piece together sampled chunks of “In The Year 2525” by Zager & Evans, “Pissing in a River” from Patti Smith, and Woodie Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” along with abrasive electronics into something like covers or reimaginings. As simple and disjointed as they are, there is a kind of logic to those instrumentals. However, all the vocals are provided by a demonic but monotonous Speak & Spell, which kills the EP as a whole. While the picture of a future dystopia as painted by the lyrics of Zager & Evans works in its own way, the vocals don’t make any sense for the other two songs. I respect the effort of trying to do something original, but let’s be honest; this is rubbish. You need to up your game, gentlemen.