A meteor streaked through the sky and exploded Friday over Russia’s Ural Mountains with the power of an atomic bomb, its sonic blasts shattering countless windows and injuring almost 1,000 people. Thankfully no one has perished in the rare natural disaster, therefore, we feel its okay to have a Man Or Astro-Man?-themed blog for the day.

Man or Astro-Man? (press photo via The Billions Corporation)

If you’ve ever wondered what surf music would sound like on a planet outside the Milky Way, it would probably sound like the stuff that comes out of Man Or Astro-Man? amplifiers.  The members’ high-powered take on instrumental surf music behind an almost “comic-book-comes-to-life” presence, became an instant favorite among garage punkers of the 90s. At gigs, the dudes dress up in astronaut jumpsuits and are surrounded by sci-fi set pieces — including tesla coils.

Their mutilated, endless twang helped catch the attention of hungry record labels in the early 90s including Estrus…which released the band’s debut full-length Is it…Man or Astro-Man? in ’93.

Again, there really is no point to this post — especially if you already know who the band is.  I suppose we can wrap up these random sentences by shoving in a local tie to Seattle: One of the fan favorites from the band’s large catalog is the song, “Special Agent Conrad Uno,” a tune dedicated to the legendary Lo-Fi Seattle producer (Conrad Uno) who has recorded thousands of household names in his dinky Wedgewood recording space, Egg Studios.

-Chris Coyle, KZOK