ATOMSMASHER - Atomsmasher
Double H Industries - 2001
Atomsmasher is:
Dave Witte/drums
DJ Speedranch/audiomulch vocals
James Plotkin/bass, guitar, wave editing
I could quite easily review this CD in a sentence, but where's the fun in that? Quite simply, this album is like all my favourite bands/artists rolled into one: The Dillinger Escape Plan's technical proficiency, Mike Patton's bonkers vocal freestyling, and Melt-Banana's mental guitar skronk, run through some kind of Industrial grinder invented by Alec Empire. It is NOISE, but not as we know it, Jim. I was thinking of people called Jimmy and writing names down for so long the word 'Jimmy' makes no sense anymore. Although I now realise this was always the case, I just didn't know it. Maybe my new found enlightenment will help me write a decent CD review, although I doubt it. In any case, this is an album of precise time changes, insane jazz rhythms and screeching digital feedback.
The first track 'Caught In Your Orbit' has got to be one of the best opening songs ever. Incredibly fast drumming with unfeasible bass fretwork and discordant guitar. Makes me smile. And if a CD can give me a shit-eating grin just cos the music's astounding should be praise indeed. Although I now understand that because Atomsmasher are one of my favourite bands I could just fill space with sycophantic rambling, which is kinda what I've just been doing, I'd better try and get some structure going on:
Quick run-through: 'Zanzibar' sounds like tribal punk with screams that may or may not be human. 'Thunderspit' appears to contain toy ray gun fx and segues into melancholic strumming...'Phantom Smasher' (now the new name of the band) combines skronk lounge guitar and destructo-jazz drums...'Gilgamesh' offers a break with high-pitched ambient weirdness with a really nice bass riff...'Skitchy' is suspiciously like an outtake and is one of the shortest tracks...'Very Much Want Head Return' bombards the listener with wobbly vocals and a repetitive jangly guitar riff...'Placebo' is just plain odd with blastbeats and seemingly very little else...'Skull Shot' presents another break with an almost groovy drum pattern and loud creepy sounds...'Someone Is Trying To Kill Me' is a ballard for people with tinnitus...'Pokemon GangBang' ends the album on a very similar note to 'Caught...'
Herein lies probably the main criticism; some of the tracks are simply too similar in presentation. They may not sound the same as each other, but the blastbeats and gibbery vocals can sound a bit repetitive, but then I did have this album on repeat for the first 2 weeks after I bought it, so I suppose even diehard fans of Noise-type music have their limits.
Overall, I'll give this little beauty a rating of 9/10 baby heads.
Now we come to the part I like to call "bite-sized bio's" - every time I bother reviewing a CD I'll try and include a list of other musical projects the band members are involved in, so you can check these out if you want.
Okay, first up, James Plotkin. Apart from his solo stuff, he has also been involved with these bands: OLD (Old Lady Drivers), Scorn, Flux, Namanax, Solarus, A Peripheral Blur, Mosquito Dream, Khanate, Shadowcast, Trifid Project...
Dave Witte: Human Remains, Discordance Axis, Burnt By The Sun. He has also toured with Melt-Banana.
DJ Speedranch: I'm not actually sure what stuff he's done, apart from loads of collabrative work with people such as Janksy Noise and Venetian Snares - I've sent him an email asking for details so we'll have to wait and see if he replies, then I can update this bit.
I've tried to include all the projects I know of, and it's entirely possible I've missed something out, in which case I'd love to know what. Please let me know so I can sleep at night and go to Heaven for knowing obscure band names *** email!!!! ***