Reviews of two new releases   Knodel The White Hole (Spongebath Records) Of related interest: Dopplereffekt, Six Finger Satellite, Kraftwerk, Reload, Trans Am When was the last time you heard a robot sing, "Out... fuckin'... rageous... let's... break... the rules, y'all"? The answer is: Never. Because a robot's sense of humor is flatter than Bob Saget's. But the men of Knodel, Portland's kooky answer to Kraftwerk, boast the ability to transform themselves from humanoids to humor-oids just by donning futurific white jumpsuits. Live, the trio takes every New Wave cliché--android fascinations, analog synthesizers, anesthetized vocals--and shamelessly exaggerates them for laffs. And indeed, with their thrift-store mini-keyboards mounted atop glowing plastic pillars, the band's angular, zippered overalls and mechano-man movements are a mighty goofy sight to behold. But how does such a group translate visual gags into audio tracks without sacrificing flippancy? By breaking the rules, y'all--mainly the one that says bands must have a unified style. Instead of merely playing Mr. Roboto for 35 minutes, as less tongue-in-cheek bleepheads like Komputer do, Knodel fractures its act into byte-sized fragments, by turns conjuring Tomorrowland with tinny-synth instrumentals, tearing up distorted Casio-thrash, or sticking to rigid, blip-funk pop. The last is Knodel's forte, as it's the fastest way to wackiness: "Do It," "Space Sonar" and "Knodel Dance Party" are intentionally stiff (no pun intended) odes to hanky-panky; "Knodel On Tour" marries sweeping bleeps to a litany of world cities the band's supposedly Knodelized; and "Cold Embrace" even lets the kids get emo. So remember that name: Knodel. German for "dumpling." Universally understood as "nutty fun." John Graham     'N Sync No Strings Attached (BMG/RCA) Of Related Interest: O-Town, Boyzone, Wesley Willis   The current titans of Total Request Live return with a sophomore album--and to quote Wesley Willis‚ this bad boy "whoops a pony's ass with a belt!" The boyishly charming Justin, JC, Chris, Lance, and Joey jack the pop record books with the first album to sell one million copies in one day! A perfect mixture of voice, dance and a special guest appearance by Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez of TLC! And the best part of No Strings Attached is the fact that Richard "Right Here Waiting" Marx wrote a song for the young lads, a soft and caring ballad called "This I Promise You," sure to break the hearts of young girls worldwide! If you haven't heard the heartbreak hoedown known as "Bye, Bye, Bye," turn your FM dial to 100.3 and wait five minutes! Heartbreak and havin' none of it are this song's theme as it burns its way up the charts! "It's Gonna Be Me" tells of a love so blind that not even Ronnie Milsap could see that the boys of 'N Sync truly love him! And if you're looking for the outlandish, check out "Space Cowboy (Yippie-Yi-Yay)"! If the name doesn't say enough, the blasting beats and interlude rap by Miz Lopez cap off this number, taking listeners into the New Millennium! For those player-haters who say boy bands are puppets to their producers, 'N Sync strikes back, with JC lending a hand in writing "Cowboy," "Bringin' Da Noise," "Digital Get Down" and the title track, which "rocks it like a magikiss," to steal yet another line from the infamous Mr. Willis! All in all, No Strings Attached makes "sophomore album" mean more than just its target audience! This one rocks the party that rocks your body! Travis Frost   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published April 12, 2000