"Impress Your Friends With These CD Reviews!"
Like Atom And His Package and Creekbird, Brandon Adamson sings along to self programed synthisized music. While he may not have the experience of those one-man-bands, the songs on this album still have their charm...if not a little bit long at times. You get the idea right away with the first track "Outer Space", lo-fi keyboards with pretty melodies that seem like they could fall apart at any time, but seem to keep it together for most of the song. Brandon's vocals can only closely be compared to Rivers Cuomo, had he realized how empty Weezer had become and decided to chuck it all for a couple keyboards and a tape recorder. The songs really can get monotonous at times. They just don't change very much. The title track "Springtime In Paris" is a good example of this. My favorite song on the album is "Moving Day", but even that one could use a bit more. (No-Fi "Radio" program director) Quin put it best when he said that this album is cheesy, but almost cheesy in a good way. We both agree that we'd definitely play some of these tracks on No-Fi "Radio" so there you go. Plus both Quin and I listened to this ALL the way through the first time we put into the CD player so there is something there...maybe the next album will hit that level that this one almost reaches. Worth listening to, but I'd like to hear more from this guy...maybe experimenting with the sound a bit more, Brandon's next album will be better. 
The first track on this CD is very accessible meaning that it's easy to listen to and even easier to forget. It's not bad, these guys are even good musicians and they have good voices, but it's just like all the other songs you hear out there. Dwine comes from Sweden and is clearly influenced by American music and in a sense they make pop music a little better, they just need to loosen up a bit. I really like this band's use of keyboards. Track 4 on the EP "Maybe not" starts out with a Grandaddyesque synthesizer, but then when you hear the vocals you think...maybe not. Then the last song "Mirrortalk (Before the Robbery)" starts off really quiet and then gets really loud. OH and hey!!! There's a secret song that could be clasified as an outro and it's very pretty and the best part of the album.
Sometimes you can judge a book by a cover, and while that can suprisingly be very true in the music world, it's very true in the case of this album...and luckily it's a good thing for them AND us. The first thing I thought when I got this CD in the mail a week ago is that I like the CD art. The music inside is even better. The Henchmen are a true garage band who you can tell would be really exciting to see live. The first track on this CD "Perpetuate The Continuance" starts off rockin just the way I like it when it comes to that garage sound. It flows seamlessly into the second track "Mike In The Middle" which has some nice guitar work and progressions. This band really needs some go-go dancers. Maybe they have some already. I think the sound lays somewhere between The Cramps and The Oblivions and those are some heavy acts to follow, much less stand in between. I really like the keyboards in all the songs. Very cool stuff. I may just have to see if this band wants to play live on No-Fi "Radio" sometime. Get this album for your next burlesque party!
I love getting CDs like this because it's different from a lot of the other stuff. The first track reminds me of something that would be on the "From Dusk TIll Dawn" soundtrack. Then it changes on the next one with an upbeat country tune called "Pretend". This song sets the pace for the rest of the album and rminds me alot of Camper Van Beethoven and The Ol' 97's. Chris says it reminds him of the emo version of the Country Bear Jamboree wearing flannel and beards on top of their bear beards. I really love the song "Devil", it's fast and bluesy at the same time...kinda like George Thorogood And The Destroyers meets Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds. If you enjoy the country tunes with the rock, then pick it up for a bar-b-que with your hillbilly friends.
I love this CD a lot. It's all so pretty and good, and exactly the kind of thing I want to hear. When i listen i hear bits of Belle And Sebastian, The Church and Love. The mood is dark and sad, but still very full and beautiful. This is also one of those albums where the cover fits perfectly with the music. It's black and white with an old photograph of a ghostly looking girl, probably about to make her first communion.
This EP takes me back to all the stuff i didn't listen to in the early 90's... like Taylor Dane and Lisa Stansfield and the wide array of VH-1 divas. I just really had a hard time getting into this and didn't find it very intersting. The lyrics are incrdibly bizarre, and for some reason that actually turned me off. The one song on here that i found to be the most tolerable was the third track "Bye Dad". But directly after that one is the last track "One Lost Sperm (remix)". That's right, they remixed the first track on the EP. I HATE remixes. And this one is no exception. So if you own all of Lisa Stansfield's albums then you might as well add this one to your collection too.
I've been holding onto this CD for way too long and I have to let you know about it. This is a young man by the name of Will Sartain. Some of the tunes are pretty upbeat and others a somber. His voice is sincere and nice and I love his lyrics. "Face Against the Glass" reminds a bit of a Beck song but i can't put my finger on what. The third track "The Piano Song" is really pretty and slows things down alot. I love the instruments on "Coma". My favorite song on here is "The Keyboard Song" but every song on this CD is realy good. Watch out for this guy, because you are sure to see more of him. He's young and talented and he's going places.
This band comes out of Nashville, Tennessee and the CD is quite punkish from start to finish. You can hear the influence of old punk bands as well as a hint of Babes In Toyland and Red Aunts. By listening to it you wouldn't think of Nashville. My favorite tracks are "Someone I Used to Love", "Lame Excuses" and "Look Them Over". There is alot of energy that comes through in the recordings and the band is really super tight. And I love the album cover. It has a picture of a maniquin wearing a Trauma Team t-shirt and holding a radio with lips and the band photo inside features some great facial expressions. Get this one to rock out in your car to.
Not since 8-Bit have I listened to a new album this much...and sadly this is Atom's last Atom And His Package album. In fact this is a recording of the very last Atom And His Package concert which took place last year in Philadelphia. It is really hard to describe Atom's music. I guess you can say that Atom sings smart nerd rock/punk lyrics over an orchestra of amanzingly sequenced electronic keyboards and beats which can go from waltzes to punk to death metal in a heartbeat. Usually the songs are about some odd subject that facinates or bothers Atom and every one of his songs is a different experience. This album, which has been out for a few months, captures him in top form although there are some sound level problems on a few of the tracks which are explained in the booklet as coming from having to switch out the recorder at the last minute. Still, they do NOT get in the way of the feel of the album at all. In between songs like "Anarchy Means I Litter", "Me and My Black Metal Friends", and "If You Own the Washington Redskins You're a Cock" we finally get to hear Atom's stage persona which is another reason I'm sad I never got to see him perform live before he quit his own solo band as he is really funny on stage. The album opens with "(Lord It's Not Hard To Be Happy When You're Not) Using the Metric System" and he, pretty much, sets up the tone for the rest of the show by explaining the story behind each song before playing them. This comes in handy with the lengthy explanation for the song "Shopping Spree" which we learn was stolen from a band he saw in a bar that only had that one good song among a bunch of crappy ones (I've since learned to skip the intro on this one on my stereo). I can go on and on about this album, so I'll stop myself here, but you really should go out and get this album for something very different than anything you've heard before. As a bonus this CD comes with a bonus DVD with all sorts of Atom And His Package goodies so whattaya waiting for? Oh, the bus? You'll be waiting another 25 minutes my friend... If you had this album already, this would be great bus riding music.
God damn those Beastie Boys taking 6 long years to finally put out more than two songs. To be honest, I was starting to worry about the Beatsies when they put out that tame "World Gone Wild" song to protest the war (seriously, Zach De La Rocha put another protest song at the same time that blew theirs out of the planet). And to be honest, their last full length non-compilation album petered off as it got towards the end. Well, if you're a fan of the Beastie Boys, you'll be happy to know that this is a REALLY good album and I suspect that it'll have longer listening power than that one. There aren't any tracks involving the Beastie Boys playing instruments on this one. It's more in line with Mixmaster Mike's "Anti-Theft Device" than "Paul's Boutique" though. Strange samples and the best scratching on any of their albums yet on this one. You find yourself wanting to hunt down the source of every single sample used in this one. This is their tribute to post 9/11 New York and the songs each reflect a different aspect or opinion of the city. My favorite tracks at the moment are "Triple Touble" (which borrows heavily from Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight"), Ch-Check It Out" (which actually has a LOT of four letter words in it...in the chorus even...that you don't get to hear on the radio), and "The Brouhaha" which sounds like the rap version of putting fresh paint on a blank canvas. Seriously, I would love to direct a video for this one). You're going to hear all about this album all over the place, so to sum it up; get this album for your next party and bring a lot of friends cuz the bootyz is gonna be shaking tonight. (Be sure to keep the booty shaking so the people who eventually show up at your party next weekend get a chance to enjoy it too.)
On a typical comedy album, when you read track titles like "Certain Leaders In Government Look Or Act Like Certain Pop Culture References!", "Although Indigent, Rural Families Have Little to Say in the Matter, Third Rate Public Education Has Kept Them Ignorant and Thus, Great Sources of Ridicule!", and the magically titled "Women, Please Rinse Off Your Vagina and Anus!", you'd think that those are the subjects he is talking about on those tracks. On the contrary, that is one many examples where the comedy isn't just kept to the audio tracks themselves, but to everything on this album from track listing, to the thank you's, to a reprint of a political article that you aren't suppossed to open until you've listened to the CD. The follow-up to 2002's "Shut Up, You Fucking Baby!" (which we voted that year's album of the year), this CD continues David's honest and sarcastic take on all the horrible things going on in the world. The title of this album is perfect. This CD IS funny, but the things he is talking about really aren't. He can go from talking about how Bush insists his a whispery voice that terrorists attacked New York because "they hated our freedom" as if it were a secret to the hypocracy of the church and our government. These are all subjects covered in in his last album, but the material is all new and just as funny. While, this album isn't as epic as his last 2 disc album (and how could it?), this CD is good for many listens as you'll find yourself laughing over (this missing) many of the "jokes" found withing. I guess he doesn't really tell "jokes" as much as give us his observations on things, huh.
The Plastic Fantastics is the perfect name for this band. They sound familiar, yet different enough to peak your interest. A friend described them as "candy punk", but I¼d say far more accurate would be to call them new wave. I heard they have quite a regular following in New York already, so hopefully they have plans to invade the west coast someday soon. It sounds as though they would put on a positively energetic, pogo-dancing, romping-good-time of a live show. Overall, I hear major Love and Rockets influences with definite splashes of Tones On Tail, Devo, Ima Robot, Sex Pistols, and Thrill Kill Kult. My favorite songs on this ep are "Out To Play" and "With You Inside Me." Though the tale ofÝ "She's So Pretty" is quite enjoyable as well. I recommend this Cd to your collection for those moments you are in the mood to reminisce about the 1980's, but are sick of all the same old standard songs from that era.Send Tapes, CDs, or Demos to: For any other information, E-Mail Chris Beyond at the link below.
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