Insatiable collects all of
the Stick Men's recorded output (1982's This Is the Master Brew and 1983's Get on Board the Stick Men) and adds three live tracks and a 20-minute QuickTime video of live footage from 1981 to 1983. This is the complete, ultimate
Stick Men release. Led by singer/guitarist Peter L. Baker, the band blended raw punk energy with funk grooves, no-wave/new wave cheesy synths and hairdos, avant-garde complexity, and incredible stop-on-a-dime musicianship into something absolutely impossible to categorize but both very contagious and mind-boggling. The band featured drummer Jim Meneses, who would later be involved with Amsterdam avant rock bands
Blast and
Palinckx. The Stick Men could be envisioned as an impossible clash between
Funkadelic,
Palinckx,
the Cramps, and
Talking Heads. All tracks are very short (most under two minutes), packed with quirky melodies, 15-second changes, and exhausting vocal deliveries. Definitely one of a kind! "Mystery Party," "Duraflame Dog," "Jampire," and "Personality Pollination" are fantastic dance tunes for the epileptic. Sound quality on this compilation is as good as it gets. The video footage is amateur and jumpy, but since it comes from the only sources available (three shows from 1981 to 1983), it should be viewed as the only way to get a glimpse of what an experience a
Stick Men performance was. Very strongly recommended to fans of avant-garde rock, punk, and new wave. ~ François Couture