Uptight! (Spring 2004)

The Man claim to have bought the tracks on their debut album from an Internet song-delivery service. Whatever. The one thing we know for sure is that whoever's responsible for ''Uptight!'' stopped listening to music in 1983, as the L.A. quartet enthusiastically regurgitates new-wave pop that recalls Blondie (the title tune), Devo (''Modern World'' and its vocoderized call-and-response), and the Cars (''All Messed Up,'' which could be an outtake from Candy-O). That said, it's a testament to the Man's skill that they so easily turn derivativeness into a fab party record.