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**1/2 Add N to (X)

ADD INSULT TO INJURY

(Mute)

The cover of Add N to (X)’s debut, On the Wires of Our Nerves, showed member Ann Shenton being impaled by a keyboard, gruesomely evoking the British art-techno act’s cross-breeding. The CD itself recalled the lost “robopunk” genre that, as expressed by Suicide and Silver Apples, laces synth-driven futurism with punk’s dystopic élan. Put against the standard set by these progenitors, Add N to (X)’s first two albums were lifeless, but not so their third release, on which they finally get their cyber-ya-yas out, their newly invigorated vibe owing considerably to the introduction of actual live rock instrumentation. “Adding N to X” sounds like a psycho beach party inside a biker bar; complete with a slurred soccer-hooligan chorus, “Monster Bobby” is a delicious Slade-esque foot stomper that verges on techno-boogie. The album’s spirit lags too soon, but robopunk aficionados and Trans Am fans will appreciate its revival of the synth/bass/drums/vocal-processing set-up.

— Patrick Bryant