The Midwest and its expansive, if not cloistered, music scene during the seventies offered up an satisfying mélange of bizarre acts. And with so much out-music getting worked up at the time, it shouldn’t be surprising that after the first wave of whatever preceded punk, there were a new handful of bands mining just about the same territory.

Indiana hasn’t provided the world with too much – the 80/90 corridor’s pretty nice. But musically, the acts coming out of that state have been, for the most part, below the radar affairs. Maybe that’s a bonus. The Gizmos were passable, but not great. And while Dow Jones and the Industrials are considerable better than its renown would lead one to believe, MX-80 Sound did just about everything those other groups did (in its own way), but was able to make it to the West Coast in order to cut some albums for the Residents.

Being affiliated with Ralph Records didn’t ensure MX-80 Sound fame or even appreciation. Of course, being on a coast and supported by a well thought of, if not low profile independent label didn’t hurt. But it was the album MX-80 cut prior to leaving its home state is probably the most engaging. Well, it has two drummers at least.

With equal portions punk and skewed synth-pop, MX-80 went in on a clutch of songs for 1977’s Hard Attack which can’t be thought to rival Dub Housing or whatever other then contemporary album one might pick. But when these Indiana natives turned in its most simplistic, if not shifting, tracks there was a grand ennui equal to anyone in New York or Ohio.

Usually, the band’s lauded for its cultural critiques, but the manner in which they’re related – and even sometimes how they’re stated – really doesn’t do much to deliver the message. “Man on the Move” is a rhythmically engaging track, but with a chorus that goes “Look out for the road block/the road block of sound” can’t be turned into some sort of anthem. And in an odd way, it just winds up sounding like Pavement before there was Pavement.

“PCBs” is a bit better in its delivery. But that just might be as a result of its chorus being simplified. Of course, singing like a your in the Mothers of Invention rarely fails. There’s not a pervasive Zappa sound here, but that’s just another one of the weird, tossed off influences to be found over the course of Hard Attack.