An Introduction to Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra for ECL 157 / MALAS 600A Sex, Drugs, Rock, & Comix

Before diving into the music, videos, and artifacts of the Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra, consider: what does it mean to perform, to narrate, and to blur the line between artist and creation?

At first glance, the setup seems simple: a human professor and his robot frontman. But the closer you look, the more it starts to resemble a psychological puzzle... or even a confession. The professor is quiet, thoughtful, and content to stay in the background. The robot, SPO-20, is loud, arrogant, and convinced of his own greatness… a performer made of aluminum and ego. The professor built him, but on stage the robot takes over.

The twist, of course, is that the professor himself is a character... a persona invented by the real artist behind the entire project. Which means the “duo” is actually one person performing a conversation between different versions of himself. The robot says everything the professor won’t. The professor allows everything the robot can’t. And the artist, hidden behind both, directs the scene like a scientist observing his own experiment unfold.

Is the robot just the professor’s invention... or the version of himself he could never get away with being? Is the professor the straight man, the scientist, the handler... or the puppet? And if the professor is also a character, how many layers of authorship are at play? How does this affect what we understand as “truth” in performance?

These are the kinds of questions that hover around the Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra, a project that has been unfolding for two decades through albums, performances, and artifacts that feel less like a discography and more like a mythology. Each release adds a new layer: liner notes written by experts, strategy guides and games that expand the lore, physical editions that function like time capsules from alternate realities. What counts as “story” here? What counts as “artifact”? And how do they all fit together... or resist fitting together... into a coherent world?

What Even is This?

The question that started this conversation... “What even is this?”... still holds. SPO is part band, part thought experiment. In an era of viral reels and disposable nano-content, they built something that demands attention, curiosity, and a willingness to look closer.

They resist transparency. Instead of giving explanations, they scatter clues: contradictory press materials, fictional histories, secret codes, false leads. The audience becomes a detective, a participant. In that sense, you are part of the story... the puppet who thinks they are watching a puppet show, only to realize the strings are tangled in both directions.

Technology is both a tool and a mirror. Robots, computers, automation... these are not gimmicks; they are reflections. Where does the human end and the machine begin? Sure, the robot’s voice is computerized. But isn’t every human pop star, whose voice has been autotuned and quantized into perfection? Could it be that we are already living as polished, quantized versions of ourselves, hiding behind curated voices and social scripts?

Sex, Drugs, Rock, and Comix

Before it was a cliché, sex, drugs, and rock & roll was a code... a way to name forces that drive art, rebellion, and desire. SPO revives that energy, but in their own twisted circuitry.

SEX: TABOO
Sex has always been about more than pleasure; it’s about revealing what society tries to hide. SPO embraces secrecy and ritual. In a world where any question can be answered instantly on a phone, and personal lives are livestreamed for likes, they cultivate mystery. Even their name feels forbidden, like something you’re not supposed to say aloud.

SPO presents multiple barriers to entry and dares you to cross them. Their universe... scattered across records, games, and cryptic lore... is built to be found, not given. Most performers tour endlessly, but SPO appears only a few times a year, never playing the same set twice. Mystery itself becomes the new taboo.

DRUGS: TRANSCENDENCE
Drugs once promised escape from reality. SPO builds hallucinatory worlds without substances: albums with parallel grooves, records that contain games, performances remixing Cold War films, songs stretched across elaborate universes. It’s not chemical alteration... it’s conceptual.

But there’s another layer to SPO’s hallucinatory landscapes: the songs themselves rarely mean exactly what they appear to. A track about sea anemones being used as wigs for sharks on the nautical-themed record might sound absurd, even silly… but beneath the surface it explores societal norms, gender roles, and ideas of masculinity. Each album’s theme acts as a kind of conceptual scaffold, a launching-off point for lyrical critiques of marketing, consumerism, and social convention. In other words, the world SPO builds is deliberately playful and disorienting, yet each joke, each strange image, is also a mirror reflecting the structures we live inside.

Through decoder glasses, two concertgoers can experience completely different realities from the same show. The meanings pulled from the footage they witnessed are contradictory but both “official.” Listening becomes a trip; following the mythology, a descent down a rabbit hole. If art holds up a mirror to society, SPO is holding up a funhouse mirror... warped and distorted, but still reflecting what it sees.

ROCK & ROLL: REBELLION
Rock ’n’ roll has never been just a genre. It is rebellion against the given world. Today, the world to resist is one of nano-content, algorithmic sameness, and art reduced to commodities. Our culture has prioritized outsourcing creative expression to AI. SPO responds with scope: a twenty-album project, lavish vinyl editions, hours-long games, and hand-crafted, sprawling storyworlds. Where culture demands seconds, they offer decades. And if a release goes out of print? That’s part of the point.

Genre itself is fluid. One album is heavy metal; the next surf rock; another synth-pop; yet another a twisted Christmas carol. SPO refuses a recognizable sound, treating genre like a toy, a narrative device, a set of rules to bend or break. Does style dictate the story, or does the story dictate the style? And if you are always switching, do you start to listen to the music, or to the idea of music itself?

COMIX: MULTIMEDIA MYTHOLOGY
Comic books are visual storytelling: panels, pacing, juxtaposition. SPO operates the same way across media. The songs tell stories; the videos tell others. Live shows project archival footage... educational shorts, forgotten industrial reels... edited against music so that new meanings spark in the clash. Album art, t-shirts, and 60-page strategy guides are immersive panels in an ever-expanding visual novel.

Each artifact reframes the story, the same way one panel can change how we read the next. You don’t just listen to SPO; you experience them.

Rebellion, Ritual, Reflection

By connecting taboo, transcendence, rebellion, and visual storytelling, SPO revives the spirit of counterculture... but on its own terms. Instead of breaking guitars, they break format. Instead of drugs, they offer disorientation. Instead of sex, they offer the thrill of the forbidden.

And yet, for all its absurdity, there is sincerity at the heart of the project: a belief that audiences are capable of curiosity, that mystery can be meaningful, and that art can be funny, smart, and strange all at once.

Maybe the point isn’t to “get it” immediately, but to stay inside the question.

So: who built who? Who’s really pulling the strings? And if you begin to see the strings… are you outside the illusion, or deeper inside it?

Themed Album Series

We’re on a mission to release 20 (yes, TWENTY!) themed albums. Each one is a complete sonic reinvention. One might be a surf rock album about the internet. Another? A metal meltdown about fear. Ice cream truck music turned into electro-pop bangers? You bet. Think of it like a genre-hopping science experiment with SPO-20 and Professor B. in the lab, mixing bizarre ingredients and seeing what explodes.

01: Stop by the Supermarket
File Under: Synth Mayhem Muzak
We kicked things off where inspiration is least expected: the grocery store. This debut themed album turns everyday errands into existential synth-pop art. Imagine Devo pushing a cart through Duchamp’s Dada aisle. Robot vocals, catchy hooks, and a surprising amount of nutritional value. Featuring custom shopping list notepads and liner notes by legendary music insider Peter Jesperson.

02: Go Caroling
File Under: Festive Holiday Tunes
Just when you thought it was safe to dust off the old holiday albums... the robots crash the Christmas party. Classic carols get a full system reboot in this warped winter wonderland of saxophones and sleigh bells. Featuring guest sax by John Roy, a $1.59 gift card, and liner notes by outsider music aficionado Mr. Fab (WFMU, Music For Maniacs).

03: Conjure the Paranormal
File Under: Eerie Synth Rock
Get spooky with our most supernaturally strange release yet. Ghosts, werewolves, poltergeists… nothing is off-limits when robots investigate the afterlife. This is synth-pop séance music for the haunted and hopeful. Liner notes by none other than the legendary Dr. Demento, and the deluxe vinyl includes a working spirit board and custom laser-cut planchette. Say it with us: Ouija-Whiz!

04: Lost at Sea
File Under: Nautical Ditties
Hoist the sails, swab the decks, and prepare for sonic turbulence. This oceanic offering is all-original maritime mayhem… just in time for Shark Week. Sailor songs, sea monsters, and salty robot harmonies. Deluxe vinyl includes temporary sailor tattoos for when you want to feel sea-worthy but non-committal. Liner notes by John K. Peck (McSweeney’s, Salon, American Steel, and more).

05: Race to Space
File Under: Dramatic Outer Space Songs
Buckle in for blastoff. This cosmic collection of tracks launches you through galaxies unknown, with robot-fueled transmissions from the outer limits. Deluxe edition includes a bonus 7” which when overlaid on the clear, laser-etched 12” reveals never-before seen constellations. Plus no space adventure is complete without an embroidered mission patch. Featuring liner notes by Dr. David C. Collins, astrophysicist, Florida State University.

06: Balance a Checkbook
File Under: Heist Music
Now this is a sound financial decision. Eight freshly minted tracks about money, financial theory, and heists, all backed by bizarre economics and even stranger synths. Featuring liner notes by Rusty Blazenhoff and backing vocals by Marie Haddad (The Invisible Hand). Deluxe edition includes two actual coins and a suspicious stack of lavender dollerydoos and smackeroonies. Priceless!

07: A La Mode
File Under: Ice Cream Truck Jams
Here's the scoop: it's an entire album about ice cream. Not just lyrically… but musically. These songs are built on brand-new ice cream truck jingles, with three instrumentals ready to loop from your neighborhood dessertmobile. Deluxe edition includes a custom paper soda jerk hat and a punchable ice cream loyalty card. Liner notes by food historian and AVM Curiosities founder Tasha Marks. Warning: may cause brain freeze.

08: Face Their Fears
File Under: Heavy Metal
What's more metal than a robot? Nothing. For this face-melting entry, SPO dives into the blackened abyss of heavy metal, exploring a range of subgenres while confronting the deepest fears of their mechanized frontman. Deluxe edition includes a corpse paint face stencil and a glow-in-the-dark guitar pick for shredding in the dark. Liner notes by Chad Stroup… author, vocalist, and drag queen icon Jenn X.

09: Surf the Web
File Under: Surf Rock
Have you heard about the robot-fronted band making waves with their latest internet-themed surf album? Yes? Oh. Well... never mind, then. Guess we won’t tell you about the tribal drums, slanky reverb-soaked guitars, or spooky organ vibes. Or that it’s on a clear, lathe-cut, one-sided 12" with laser-etched art. You probably already know about the custom mouse pad and “Definitely Not Logins & Passwords” sticky notes too. Fine. As you were. Liner notes by Brian Chidester, creative historian and author of Pop Surf Culture.

10: Have an Existential Crisis
File Under: Robo-Rocksteady
It’s time to question everything. Identity. Reality. Why a robot is singing about finding meaning. Have an Existential Crisis is #10 in the series… and it’s pressed on a rare Rando-phonic™ vinyl: two parallel grooves, two completely different versions… Robot or Human vocals… depending on where the needle lands. You don’t choose. The record chooses. Featuring human vocals Spencer Moody (Murder City Devils, M. Krebs), Marie Haddad (Baby Bushka, Lion Cut), Pall Jenkins (3 Mile Pilot, Black Heart Procession, Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects), Pat Beers (The Schizophonics), Jacob Turnbloom (Mrs. Magician), and more. Deluxe edition includes a two-sided 9" x 12" puzzle, red decoder glasses, and a splintered reality maze. Liner notes by Aaron Carnes, author of In Defense of Ska.

11: Press Start
File Under: NES Bangers
A chiptune-infused concept album inspired by retro arcades, pixel art, and 8-bit dreams… but that’s just the beginning. Press Start comes with a real, playable video game: Phantom Quests, a lo-fi, sci-fi, satire-packed experience filled with SPO lore. Deluxe vinyl: transparent blue with etched B-side art, custom arcade tokens, High Score Magazine, and more tickets than you could redeem in a lifetime. Liner notes by Stephen Sandoval, Co-Executive Producer of Big City Greens and Animation Director for Futurama, Rick and Morty, and Gravity Falls.

12: Get Down to Business
File Under: White Collar Industrial
Staplers. Copiers. Pingy Slack alerts. This album takes the cold, clunky sounds of corporate life and turns them into a brutalist symphony of office funk. Printers jam. Drawers slam. Deadlines loom. This is your desk job reimagined as industrial synth-rock for the spreadsheet generation. Deluxe pink etched vinyl comes with a pocket calculator and a custom necktie/pocket square combo, so you’ll look sharp while you file reports… or file complaints. Liner notes by Martin Atkins, the legendary drummer best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, and Killing Joke.

??: Voyage to the Well Known
File under: Lounge / Exotica
Exotica usually promises escape. But here we have the opposite: a lush, loungey tribute to the inescapable. The familiar. Remote controls. The ticking of a clock. Long-distance phone calls. Instead of relying solely on robot vocals, these tracks are layered with samples from forgotten educational films, soundtracked with dreamy arrangements that beg you to slow down and notice what’s right in front of you. A sonic reminder to be here now… even if "here" is stuck in your car at a traffic light.

??: Divide and Conquer
File under: Punk Rock
Math rock? No, this is math punk. No abacus required. This numbers-obsessed blast of loud guitars and louder questions tackles individuality, rebellion, and representation… using math as metaphor. How much is enough? What’s the highest named number? And why does it all feel rigged? Liner notes by Jim Ruland, author of Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise & Fall of SST Records as well as books on Bad Religion and Keith Morris.

??: Mix and Match
File under: Experimental / Interactive / Madness
This is not an album. It’s a sonic experiment in controlled chaos. A double LP, each with 8 tracks. To hear one full song, you play two tracks… one from each record… at the same time. Melodies and half the lyrics live on one disc; drums, bass, and the other half on the second. The result? 64 possible song combinations. Different meanings. Different moods. Different genres. The chorus travels with the rhythm, so every melody has 8 different choruses. Is it one song? Eight? Sixty-four? Depends on how you listen. Deluxe edition includes two CDs, download codes, and audio instructions by producer and TV host Ken Kramer, with liner notes by journalist and author Julia Dixon Evans. It’s like a Choose Your Own Adventure for your ears… and a reflection on how we connect, combine, and try to find meaning in the noise.

??. Drop the Beat
File Under: Dance
The best dance songs build more than a beat… they build a world. A smoky club. A glittery runway. A warehouse rave. A revolution. This album grooves through all of them. From deep dives into the ancient Latin roots of “Disco Inferno” to the dystopian panic of a nationwide glowstick recall, these tracks will light up any dance floor… even if the dancers look mildly alarmed.

17 - 20: TBD

Forbidden Knowledge

Decrypting Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra’s conspiracies, secrets, and lore

Officially, Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra is just a band. Unofficially, they may be hiding messages in plain sight. Whether it’s coded lyrics, suspicious track lengths, or QR codes only visible through red decoder glasses, fans have started to uncover strange patterns and unexplained connections across their 20-album mission. We’re not saying it’s all part of something bigger. We’re just saying… it might be.

DOCUMENTED CASES:

The Palindrome Track
The song Dö Geese See Göd? from Face Their Fears is a known palindrome title… but the entire song is also palindromic. Played forward or backward, the music remains the same. Listeners who’ve reversed the track confirm it’s not just a gimmick… it’s musically and structurally symmetrical. Adding to the mystery, the lyric sheet doesn’t include any lyrics. Instead, it reads: Ebdluoh suoy nah tsegas semlani milbush tiwden rec nocs sel meesuoy. No one knows what it means. Yet.

Color-Coded Realities
At certain live performances of Have an Existential Crisis, audience members are randomly given decoder glasses… either red or blue. During these songs, synced visuals play behind the band. But here’s the catch: what you see depends on your lens color. That means two people standing next to each other may be watching entirely different shows... at the same time. Reality is subjective. And apparently color-coded.

The Hidden Dub
Have an Existential Crisis already plays with reality via dual grooves… offering either robot or human vocals depending on where the needle lands. But there’s more. A QR code hidden in the lyric insert artwork doesn’t scan... unless you photograph it through the included decoder glasses. Doing so unlocks a secret dub remix of the album where both vocal versions merge into one reality-breaking tracklist.

Speed of Light Sync-Up
“Interstellar Space Travel,” from Race to Space, clocks in at exactly 3:06… or 186 seconds. Coincidence? That’s also the number (in thousands) of miles per second that light travels. For that runtime to align exactly, the band would have had to reverse-engineer the BPM from the start.

The Christmas Cipher
In “Crack the Code,” from Go Caroling, SPO-20 sings a string of cryptic characters: ZYVHQ BXEZOZURX FPP
Earlier verses reference morse code, pigpen ciphers, and Caesar shifts. Some believe these are clues pointing to a real-world decryption challenge hidden in the track. To date, no one has published a confirmed solution.

Gift Card Easter Egg
The vinyl version of Go Caroling included a gift card for the odd value of $1.59 to GiftCardStripMall.com. But those who tried to redeem it received a surprise: a secret digital album of otherwise unreleased Huey Lewis and the News cover songs. Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra and the News? Only a handful of people ever found it. Also… how long is the song “Just Buy a Gift Card” on the album? 1:59 in length. It makes you wonder, right?

The Phantom Ice Cream Truck
One of SPO’s instrumental ice cream truck jingles, released on the A La Mode album, has racked up over 130,000 views on YouTube. But who’s listening? Some believe an actual ice cream truck is driving through real neighborhoods, looping the track endlessly. Others say it’s just the algorithm at work. No one knows for sure. 

Clickbait Time Capsule
The music video for “Six Reasons Why Clickbait Titles Actually Work,” from Surf the Web, is a single-take screen capture of a parody website called The Mockingbird created exclusively for the video. The screen scrolls endlessly past fake clickbait headlines… every one dated April 1st. Sharp-eyed fans have paused the video frame by frame to read the full articles. Some reference other SPO tracks, including: “Local Woman Gets Ghosted by the Ghost of Abraham Lincoln… ‘He’s Just Not That Into Her’” and “Area Man Regrets Not Asking Jeeves When He Had the Chance.” How many song connections are hidden in plain sight? You’ll have to click to find out. (But don’t. That’s how they get you.)

Phantom Quests

In Phantom Quests, you control SPO-20, a delusional, fame-hungry robot who insists he’s in the world’s greatest band. Along with Professor B., his weary mad scientist creator, they travel across time and space performing bizarre tasks for even weirder NPCs.

Investigate laundromat sock conspiracies. Scat to an audience of geese. Team up with Abraham Lincoln for some reason. And always — always — be ready to win over a new fan.

Built in RPG Maker MZ with 16-bit pixel art, a fully original soundtrack, and hundreds of hand-scripted interactions, Phantom Quests mixes satire, sci-fi, and absurdity into a surprisingly cozy RPG adventure.

NOTE: This game is NOT intended for your phone. Try something bigger like a desktop or laptop.

Download for PC

Download for Mac / web

Play in your browser

Platform downloads are direct zip files. If you have questions, contact professor@satanicpuppeteer.com.

Virtual Mixtape

This playlist is an entry point: a curated selection of tracks pulled from across our ever-expanding universe. Think of it as a mixtape from another reality.

Fun Facts

• Their first release was the best-selling debut 4 CD box set in history.
• Formed in 1996 in San Diego, California.
• The band has been taught as a multi-media work of satirical fiction and performance art to 250 students at San Diego State University along with works by Kurt Vonnegut, Rene Magritte, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Dan Clowes.
• They played for more than 10,000 people on Halloween for "Heaven and Hell" at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. They once played to less than 200 people at a car wash.
• They were nominated for a San Diego Music Award.
• Their songs have been featured in San Diego on 91X, ALT94/9, Rock 105.3, KCR, and KSDT. Outisde of their hometown, they've been played on WFMU in New York, BBC Radio in London, and various college stations across the US.
• They are on a release with a former member of The Beatles.
• They have been featured multiple times by Dr. Demento.
• They were featured in NME's article "Singing Parrots, Robotic Frontmen And Creepy Clowns – The Strangest Novelty Bands You've Never Heard"
• When asked to write a theme song for 91X's local music program, Loudspeaker, they spent half the song making fun of 91X.
• SPO-20 speaks with a robotic British accent, but doesn't sing with one.

Conjure the Paranormal Liner Notes by Dr. Demento

Welcome to the weird and wondrous world of the Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra.

The Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra consists of a singing robot named SPO-20 and songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Professor B. Miller. They’ve been together for more than 20 years now, and thus far neither one has killed the other one.

The SPO made its disc debut in 2007 with a four-CD box set, which actually has five CDs. That’s the one with their hit tune “I Stole Your Daddy’s Time Machine.” The Professor solemnly swears that collection is the best-selling debut 4-CD box set with five discs in the history of the world. Considering the lack of competition, I’m inclined to believe him.

Now on to Conjure the Paranormal, the disc which you either own or are about to own. It’s the third of a series of twenty themed vinyl LP’s. The SPO worked on this one for a year or so, so we’ll be through numerous news cycles by the time they’re finished with all 20, but that’ll give you time to savor and treasure each one in its turn.

Highlights this time include “Full Moon Fever,” described by the Professor as “a song about a hypochondriac who isn’t sure if he has a cold or is about to turn into a werewolf… or it’s a secret tribute to Tom Petty.” “Abraham Lincoln” is about “how people are obsessed with celebrities and their inconsequential interactions with them.” On “Call of the Chupacabra” be sure and listen for the part right after the chorus where everything drops out so we can hear its call. One of the other songs is partly inspired by the possession scene in Beetlejuice, the part with Harry Belafonte singing “Jump in the Line.” And then there’s my current earworm, “Bermuda Triangle.”

As you soak in these salutary sounds from the magic groove on this disc (you do know that an LP only has one groove, right?) you will also experience the sounds of Korg Monotron analog ribbon synthesizers, a Moog Theremin, and musical or lyrical references to Close Encounters, The Exorcist, and The Munsters.

The audio and visual delights here are as thick as rivets on a robot. C’mon, go ahead and listen. Puppets can’t bite… but can a Satanic Puppeteer?

DR. DEMENTO
Member of the Comedy Music Hall of Fame and the National Radio Hall of Fame
MA in Folklore and Ethnomusicology, UCLA
American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings
May 2019

Press Start Liner Notes by Stephen Sandoval

As the current battle for world domination of planet Earth rages on between carbon-based units and deep-learning A.I., it's encouraging to know that Professor B. Miller, a human, and his crooning computational collaborator SPO-20, a not-human, have proven that both sides can co-exist in harmonizing harmony, as evidenced by the record album you now hold in your hands, virtual or otherwise.

The opening track, "Blow It Up," is a call to arms to fight against the digitally repetitive chokehold of stagnation that threatens to bind us and keep us from reaching our true potential. We must tear it all down and start from scratch before the game is over. Never forget there's still time to push "Replay."

"Personal Best" and "Side Scrolling" are the little cheerleaders inside our heads telling us to keep hopping over the electronic obstacles that never seem to end. You may not have won this round, however, but you're not out of the game just yet, so let yourself off the hook and take pride in getting past this current level and charge on to the next. The only one who can stop you is you, so sweep away any lingering doubts and regrets and jump head first into the fray called "life"!

"Kid Casino" takes us into the delightful world of kid video addicts, complete with electronic opium at their fingertips. What more could one ask for?

"Virtualoso" is a cautionary tale of what can happen when real life experience is dismissed in favor of virtual learning. No one can tell you what it's really like to go outdoors, breathe in the fresh summer air, and feel the warmth of the sun on your skin when you've spent countless online hours watching others describe it to you, is there, oh Lord of The VR Masses?

"Ready, Set, Ghost" and "Extra Life" are cybernated memento mori reminding us to take full advantage of our limited shelf life here, and to make the most of every day before our individual expiration dates arrive.

All of the conflict between man and machine culminates in the triumphant coda, "Conglaturation," with a message that both sides can take to heart; that we will survive another day, both victorious in our righteous existences in peaceful cooperation. That is until the next lava wielding, slime ninja ghost tries to pull out your spinal column, then all bets are off.

Stephen Sandoval
Co-Executive Producer of Disney's Big City Greens. Animation Director on Futurama, Rick and Morty, Gravity Falls, and Tangled: The Series.

Balance a Checkbook Liner Notes by Rusty Blazenhoff

If we’ve learned anything about the intersection of money and art from 2021, it’s that our robot overlords are full of surprises.

With NFTs and cryptocurrency values aimed at the moon, it should come as no surprise that Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra (SPO) has created a financial record.

“Balance a Checkbook” is that physical vinyl record.

The brain of the operation, the band’s singing robot SPO-20, solely carries this album only gaining vocal support from humans—golden-voiced ladies from the sound of it—on the final track. You might be saying to yourself, “Wait, what? A robot is the...lead singer? That sounds as phony as a $3 bill.” I assure you, there are no counterfeits here.

Being contrary is SPO’s game, delivering absurdity as artistry. Retro with modern. Wholesome to the point of subversion. Amazingly, what is being achieved is actually two sides of the same coin.

That intersection of contradiction brings a certain kind of magic that the world doesn’t see nearly enough.

And, while everyone else is out there minting digital NFTs, the good Professor B. Miller (the group’s human/mad scientist) is turning out actual tangible cashola. Enclosed you will find two coins that pull a line from the first track “Placebo Currency,” which read: “Stop Making Cents.” The stack of greenbacks, either “dollarydoos” or “smackeroonies,” are actually lavender-hued. Legal tender, none of it. This money is tight, if you catch my drift.

Again, SPO is zigging when the rest of the world is zagging. Starting to make sense, isn’t it?

Heads and tails. That’s what SPO does best. At all costs, cough up some cabbage and pick up this album. You can bet your bottom dollar that it’s worth it.

Rusty Blazenhoff
Professional Free Spirit

Surf the Web Liner Notes by Brian Chidester

As if the obvious needs restating: the world we live in is absurd. Need proof? Put the disc you now hold in your hands on the closest stereophonic bauble and let its cheeky play on “surf” music plunge you into the conceptual funhouse that is our virtual contemporary reality.

Actually, some of it, like the song “I Should've Asked Jeeves,” pines for the good ol' days of the World Wide Web mach one. “Let Me Guess Your Password” and “Dear CAPTCHA” are lighthearted titles, as well, if slightly demented productions. The rest of Surf the Web leans more heavily into the dark side of online brainwashing. Particularly in epithets such as “Six Reasons Why Clickbait Titles Actually Work,” the album's opener, which features an A.I.-generated voice in the OK Computer vein over an organ-grinding stomper—part retro-surf, part-haunted house soundtrack. “Like and Subscribe,” while satirizing the favorite pastime of social media, is simultaneously a variation on “The Theme from 'The Munsters.'”

In the tradition of novelty-surf records like Shock! Terror! Fear! (1965) by Frank E. Stein & his Ghouls, XXX Party (1999) by the Phantom Surfers, and Psychsploitation (2009) by Satan's Pilgrims, this new disc by the Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra filters the theme of modern technology through the tribal throb of instrumental rock music. To be certain, there've been attempts in the past to marry the two, including the space-age anthem “Telstar” by the Tornadoes (1962) and its moog synthesizer offshoot, “Passport to the Future” (1970), by Jean-Jacques Perrey. There was also “Sunset Sound” by Gershon Kingsley, c. 1969, which applied analog synths to a lazy Endless Summer vibe, and Kraftwerk's clever Beach Boys nod on 1975's pre-synthpop hit “Autobahn.” Where Surf the Web turns this approach on its head, however, is by being about technology while largely steering clear of digital aesthetics. Which makes its subversive take on the internet even more of a critique.

In the end, if this album makes you laugh at the stupidity of the people around you who spend all day, every day with their faces in a smart phone, mission accomplished; and if it gets you to put your device down for half-an-hour and dance your head off, even better. It's just nice to see surf music still kicking and screaming in the 21st century!

Brian Chidester
March 22, 2023

Brian Chidester is a creative historian with a background in curation, documentary filmmaking, and journalism. He has written articles for The American Prospect, The Atlantic, L.A. Weekly, Paste, and The Village Voice and is the author of Pop Surf Culture: Music, Design, Film, and Fashion from the Bohemian Surf Era (Santa Monica Press). Chidester is also the director of the feature-length documentary As the Wind: The Enchanted Life of Eden Ahbez and curator of the art exhibition Appeal to the Great Spirit: Designing the Beach Boys. He lives in New York City.

Have an Existential Crisis Liner Notes by Aaron Carnes

A Brief History of Robo-Rocksteady

Ska has been on quite the journey these past 60 years. Born in the ghettos of West Kingston, Jamaica, in the late-’50s, the music was later revived in the ’70s by UK punks, Caribbean immigrants, and slick mods. This politically fervent “2 Tone” ska (the Specials, the Selecter, Madness) quickly spread worldwide and inspired young musicians to mix the genre with every style imaginable: metal, hardcore, soul, hip hop, arena rock, and yes, even electronic music. The brief late-’80s acid ska (“skacid”) scene in the UK (Longsy D, Double Trouble & Rebel MC, the Children of the Night) showed that robots had their sights on ska. It was laughed off then as a novelty, but more recently, a new generation of electronic artists have claimed ska as their own: 100 gecs, Eichlers, and Tape Girl. It shouldn’t be any surprise, then, that in 2023 robots have finally realized they no longer need humans to program the computers.

This new, fully realized genre, “robo-rocksteady,” can be experienced on the new album Satantic Puppeteer Orchestra Have An Existential Crisis. It’s a terrifying record! Who knew that robots could play ska better than mere mortals? To add insult to injury, they’ve added human voices on a parallel groove—there’s a version of every song with robot vocals and a version with human vocals. Take your pick! Clearly, they did this to let us humans know that they own us and can do whatever they want. The fact that they enlisted Pall Jenkins from my favorite ’90s band Three Mile Pilot to sing “Reboot The Simulation” feels like a personal attack. Truth is, these songs are fantastic and I hate myself for loving them so much. “Pick ‘Em Up,” “Rhetorical Questions,” “The Mandela Effect”—these are songs that will make you question the very fabric of your reality. They will tear you apart and put you back together again. Like any good ska song should do!

Humans had a great run and produced many brilliant ska bands. The Skatalites. Fishbone. The Selecter. MU330. Bad Operation. But alas, our time has passed. We are yesterday’s technology. The algorithms have perfected ska. We are helpless. We must listen to the music the robots play and watch them dance. It is time we dance with them and never stop dancing. I must go now, to listen and dance to robo-rocksteady. Soon everything will be in its right place. A moment of beauty that will shine on for all eternity. Join me. Join us. Join them.

AARON CARNES
Author of In Defense Of Ska