Customer Reviews

Popular Mechanics

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

 

 

Popular Mechanics by Surrogate is my favorite album of 2009. Each song is precious and precise. There is no filler or fat. Outstanding tracks include A Constitution, Whiskey (Vomiting Words), Surprise, Exercise Machines, State of Jefferson and Popular Mechanics. It is a phenomenal accomplishment!

Last time out Chris Keene and Jordan Mallory showed some talent but missed with me by getting too cute with nonsense like banjo's and such, turning decent songs into country novelty, yuch. I like this a lot better, they're still trying to be rather clever, in a Kink's or Blur sort of way, but they sound more like Mew on a quiet day. Unfortunately, they still tend toward novelty, the horns on "Love" for example do not help, but it's not that hot of a song anyway, so we'll let that pass.

This is not where these guys can end up and get a commitment from me to really like them, for that to happen would take them getting serious and tending to the beat. But this was forward movement, no question about that.

"Nobody" (an apt name, by the way) clearly doesn't grasp the band that Surrogate is and would be advised to look elsewhere for the sound being sought--because it clearly isn't Surrogate's. There's a certain degree to which one can expect something from a band they're a fan of, but hoping for a band to have a sound that is not only not who they are but not the direction they will most likely ever go is downright unrealistic!

Surrogate has always had a quirky blend of lyrics and instrumentation that comes together to form something special. This new album is no exception and quite a good example, at that.

I've been a fan since the beginning and will continue to be just that--not a hard to please, pretentious individual feeling a certain righteous entitlement to be impressed. That is all.