Hack is an album by the freestyle synthpop band Information Society. The album sold quite well but did not outsell the band's first album. It is the only major-label-distributed title that has the modern Tommy Boy Records logo on it.

Artwork and packaging

The menacing car on the cover is "Vector", Kurt Harland's heavily customized 1973 Plymouth Satellite Sebring. The cassette tape for this album used an unusual naming convention for the sides. Instead of 1 and 2 or A and B, there was the Gilligan Side and the Skipper Side. The vinyl edition had a Scooby Side and a Shaggy Side.

Musical style

Riding on the success of its self-titled major-label debut, Harland decided to have the band experiment on this album with a more radical, harsher sound. The other members agreed somewhat, feeling that they should stay on level ground with the pop sensibilities. This is more pronounced on tracks like "Seek 200" and "Hard Currency". This notion eventually lead to Don't Be Afraid, Harland's solo album. Like the others, this album is thick with samples and loops, including Kraftwerk, James Brown, Nitzer Ebb and Beastie Boys.

Star Trek references

There are multiple references to the first Star Trek series on various tracks on the album. On the track "Charlie X", the line "I could make you all go away, any time I want to" is a reference to the episode "Charlie X". On "Come with Me," the following lines are a reference to the episode "The Changeling": "What is the meaning?" "Singing, What purpose is singing?" "I like to sing. I felt like music"

Track listing

Note

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic Information Society Additional musicians Artwork Technical