This 2006 release (their first on the Epicac label, 10th overall) finds Mouse on Mars in a typically playful mood, but with perhaps a more frantic and harder edge than fans have come to expect. The beats here are aggressive, with abrasive layers of sound that build in intensity. The duo pays noisy respects to their Krautrock forebears on "Duul" and the Kraftwerk-esque "Retphase," and they hypnotize with the thwack-thump electronica of "Inocular." As un-bubbly as VARCHARZ may be, it is inspiring to witness an act still growing and poking at the edges 10 albums into their career.