Customer Reviews

Attention Blah Blah Blah

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Atom & His Package, a one-man band, used to sound like a cross between Nine Inch Nails and Weird Al Yankovic. (And I mean that as a compliment.) Atom's songs were very topical with a go-for-the-throat punk sense of humor, evinced in such songs as "Pumping Iron For Enya"(about his obsession with the New Age singer) and "Hats Off To Halford" (fanfare for the now out-of-the-closet ex-Judas Priest singer; in the chorus, Atom boldy proclaims "I Want To Be -- I Want To Be A Homosexual!"; I can't help raising my lighter during that song at his concerts).
Now with his new CD, "Attention! Blah Blah Blah," Atom has largely abandoned overt humor, though his smarts still show in his musical allusions to Rancid ("Lying To You", his impression of Tim Armstrong's atonal scarred-tongue crooning, sends chills, as it brings a smile to your face), Celtic Frost ("Out To Everyone", listen for the goth metal's sludge guitars (sludge came before grunge), the very sound Kurt Cobain used to such brilliant effect on "Nevermind"), and Slayer ("Deal Atom, You Do Not Want Children, Love Atom", the ferocious speed metal outfit's influence can't be denied, despite Atom's justified contempt for their Nazi fetish). Atom sets all these dark influences to his trademark discount Casio keyboard. The effect on the average listener: headbanging followed closely by headscratching.

The stand-out track, Atom's first potential smash hit, "For Aliza, Whenever She May Sleep", a lullaby for the sleep deprived, has a driving, contagious chorus.

The praise for "Attention! Yada Yada Yada." has been qualified by the fact that it's less funny than his past efforts. While you'll get no argument from me on that point, I feel Atom's deliberately not trying as hard to be witty on this record and I believe this strategy works to his advantage. His crazed intensity seems less contrived now that he's more sincere. Atom, a novelty act? I think this CD proves otherwise.

Adam Guren returns with another album of short, quirky songs. With a slightly whiny punk rock voice and fast electric guitars, the music has a very punk rock feel. But the attitude is more like They Might Be Giants.

All the songs are written and performed by Adam, using synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines, giving it a light, bouncy almost cheesy feel. For songs entitled I'm Downright Amazed At What I Can Destroy With Just A Hammer, the sound fits perfectly.

One track teaches the listener to make paper mustaches and stick them on their TVs with tape and see how many people on the screen the mustache with fit perfectly. The funniest thing is how often this actually works.

Another track is an ode to Atom's grandmother which is just PG rated enough to be sincere. And therein the humor lies.

Not all the tracks are light hearted however, like on previous albums, there is a political side. Last time it was sports teams with racist Native American names and logos.

This time Atom blasts those that blindly take the Arab side of the Israeli-Arab conflict because they think it's trendy. He still retains his wit however, with lyrics such as:

"You're so Leftist/You're so pro-peace/you're hate the death penalty/But love it in the Middle East."

The album ends with a track of spoken word gibberish by someone named Matt Werth. Who this individual is, and what he's talking about we may never know. Apparently, like much of the album, it's just one more inside joke that Adam is letting us in on.

The solo performer is equally as effective live. If you get a chance to see him, ask if he'll play his cover of Mind Playing Tricks on Me by 90's rap group The Geto Boys, whom he claims he knows personally.

To call Atom another "run of the mill" punk humorist would be to vastly undercut what he does. First of he's a one man band (how run of the mill is that?). Second, his songs pack more wit and intelligence than other humor based bands (ex: old Blink 182, the Vandals) have found in many of their recent records. In "Attention: Blah Blah Blah" Atom brings in more intelligence and humor than nearly any contemporary to date.
With short and bouncy songs Atom even manages to make you sing along to things such as the Palestine/Israel conflict and the prospect of marrying your own grandmother. Truly a fine and under respected album.
Cheers

This album is great. I was introduced to Atom and His Package a few years back and continue to listen to this album on a regular basis. All of the songs are interesting and very catchy. The whole album is worth a listen and I have suggested it to others throughout the years. I don't have as much detail as some of the other reviewers but I give this one man band a lot of credit for making his fantastic songs. If you are reading this then you have already heard something about him and should definitely give this album a shot you will not regret it.

Atom and his package once again has come out with a great album! His style has improved much as off late musically with more guitar added to the songs but the songs are slightly less funny than his previous ones.