Revolting Cocks, 'Sex-O Olympic-O'

The buzz: In the '80s and early '90s, the Revolting Cocks were a fairly amusing off-shoot of Ministry, best known for revved-up covers of "(Let's Get) Physical" and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" But the jokey industrial group was hardly missed, especially after a revamped RevCo line-up released a tepid comeback, "Cocked and Loaded" back in 2006. Now the group tries again, with yet another collection of electro-rock unknowns backing up Al Jourgensen.

The verdict: Surprisingly, "Sex-O" overcomes its sophomoric humor ("Lewd Ferrigno"?) and attains a consistently punishing disco-metal attack. Tracks like "Touch Screen," "Abundant Redundancy" and "Ferrigno" have a heft that even Jourgensen's main band has lacked in its past few albums. And there are also some new sonic curveballs at play here: the group's Texas roots show through on "Red Parrot," essentially a juiced up take on the synth-laden ZZ Top of the '80s. And "Robo Banditos" may be the first successful mixture of '80s Goth, metal guitar and Spanglish. Which is infinitely better than it sounds on paper...

Did you know? Until recently, Jourgensen (who has already retired the Ministry moniker) was considering loaning out the Revolting Cocks name to his bandmates and then leaving, effectively ending his assocation with the group. He has since reconsidered...which, given that he's the co-creator of the band and its main attraction (and songwriter), was probably wise.