**1/2 Servotron

NO ROOM FOR HUMANS

(Amphetamine Reptile)

Disguised as humanoid cyborgs, designated simply as "machines" 1, 2, 3, and 4, Servotron inject a badly needed sense of humor into the overblown talk of an impending electronic-music revolution. The band's only musical concession to technology is their use of vintage synths, but in songs like "Moving Parts," the Star Wars-inspired "Red Robot Refund (The Ballad of R5-D4)," and the rousing "Theme for an Ultimate and Inevitable Victory" they confront the mechanized future with silicon tongue firmly planted in robotic cheek.

Drawing members from the space-obsessed Man . . . or Astroman? and Supernova, and guidance from the three laws of robotics spelled out in Isaac Asimov's I Robot, Servotron also succeed on their own merits as yet another amusing permutation of the infectious surf-rock virus. A gimmick? Damn right. And as the disc's anthemic Devo-meets-the-Ventures opener, "S.R.A." ("Servotron Robot Allegiance"), makes clear, proud of it.

-- Matt Ashare

(Servotron open for Pansy Division at T.T. the Bear's Place this Tuesday, March 25. Call 492-0082.)