Orgy

Orgy looks and sounds like the house band from a party hosted by ’70s-era David Bowie, at which flashy suits, metallic makeup and ass-kicking androgyny are the norm. Unfortunately, the band is plagued by a variation on the same problem that vexes the big-budget sci-fi flicks from which it apparently pilfers wardrobe ideas. Behind the aesthetically pleasing backdrop and impressive special effects in those films, there’s either hamfisted social commentary (genetic engineering is bad, people!) or no message at all.

Likewise, Orgy has the walloping beats, electronically processed guitar riffs and bubble-gum melodies needed to make listeners sit down and grab a bucket of popcorn, as well as the tight songwriting and exacting production to make the disc artistically rewarding. It’s all very pretty on the outside, but despite all of Orgy’s sci-fi pretenses, exemplified by song titles such as “The Odyssey” and “Dramatica,” singer Jay Gordon has little to tell the world other than it’s really bad when the jocks pick on goth-type kids for wearing mascara. To be fair, he’s good at that sort of thing: The prep-bashing “Suckerface” might become an anthem for dispossessed teens. Gordon also possesses some range, with his guilt-ridden “Eva” providing a genuinely moving tribute to a deceased friend. However, for the most part, Orgy is concerned with such shallow issues as hating the brand-name-wearing popular kids, an outlook shared, for better or worse, by its target audience. Then again, should anyone really look to a lipstick-wearing band named Orgy for more than sleazy fun?