Catapult Calypso, the first full-length album from Ad Astra per Aspera, (Latin for “to the stars through difficulties”) is almost as weird as the band’s name. The first track, “Voodoo Economics,” starts with a groovy guitar riff that could easily have hippies and punks dancing to the same tune, but unfortunately, this only last a few seconds. The song then breaks into an absolutely obnoxious fast-paced jam with way too much going on. The track gets even worse when the vocals kick in. Likely inspired by the remake of Willy Wonka, the lead singer sounds like an Oompa Loompa. While there are brief moments of musical genius on the album, the band is too caught up in sounding different and changing tempos every few seconds to make these instances last. Grade: C
— Adam Straub, Muse Staff
