Anaesthetic is that subversive, sci-fi, punk-rock album that Kurt Vonnegut's crotchety hero Kilgore Trout might enjoy, one that should shake up a generation. In driving, guitar-cleaved, nü-wave anthems ("Shrink to Fit," "The Fear Is Back in Town") and sprawling, prog-rock eeriness ("Lost the Thoughts But Kept the Skin," "Ant Architect"), Milemarker becomes a chorus of ominous chiders without being clichéd sloganistas. Al Burian, Roby Newton, and Dave Laney trade lyrics that range the gamut of warnings, tirades, and anecdotes. "Your brains would be of better use than food for worms," Roby warbles ethereally, though accusingly, in the fractured, plodding beauty of the antisuicidal "Food for Worms." Milemarker's crisis rock, finally jelled, infiltrates with a full-on bioelectric android assault played with a meticulous -- even catchy -- fervor. Anaesthetic is all about survival, especially in the face of thriving sociopolitical anathema. The result is as unambiguous a charge as the menacing music of shimmering circuitry spilling from the smashed DVDs, SUVs, and CPUs of a digital-city rebellion kept alive with secrets.