Southern California punk rock legend—one of the masterminds behind the Dils, Rank And File, Blackbird, Cowboy Nation, and Ford Madox Ford—releases his first solo album under his own name and, true to form, it’s bound to result in lots of head-scratching. Veering off in yet another direction from roads he’s previously trod, here you get two vinyl slabs’ worth of electronic music. No, not disco dance-beat stuff the kids like to pay exorbitant amounts of money to watch someone else play a record of while they bounce up and down in abandon covered in glow stick necklaces. Think more along the lines of “a less funky Kraftwerk jams with Karlheinz Stockhausen across soundscapes tinged with snatches of spoken word and fleeting melodies.” Wait, wait, come back. Siddown. Trust me, it’s good, homes. I’ve run through the whole thing, end to end, four times so far this week and I fuggin’ dig it more each time. It’s just that, if you’re looking for something more akin to “Class War” or “The Conductor Wore Black,” or even resembling traditional “pop” structures, you’re gonna be seriously bummed. If, however, you are of the mind that “punk” should push at the boundaries (and maybe bound right over them occasionally to plant a flag in some different patches of dirt) both as “artist” and “listener,” this’ll do you solid. You just gotta sit, pay attention, and let it take you on a little trip. Thumbs up over here, and I’m even more curious where Chip plans on going next time ’round. –Jimmy Alvarado (In The Red)