Customer Reviews

Schmack!

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had never heard of Steriogram until about 2 months ago when whilst listening to Launchcast, Walkie Talkie Man came on. I was instantly hooked by the intro's fast heavy riffs, followed up by a fusion of speed guitars, hip hop style vocals and smooth chorus. I had to hear more, and now finally i have.
It'd be so easy to hear one song, love it and then be disappointed with the rest of the album. I'm very glad to say this is not the case. From the first track, Roadtrip, i had a smile on my face. What steriogram are doing is so fresh, upbeat and relentlessly cheerful that you can't help but tap your feet and sing along.

Now, as a rule, i dislike hip hop and rap, but when fused so seamlessly with some excellent punk guitar stylings, it just works. There's no attitude, no negative aggression, just a pure fun, energetic band. If you want music to make you think, look elsewhere. If you want music to dance to, sing along to and generally enjoy, this is for you.

The only disappointment on the whole album is the next to last track, Be Good To Me, which is a little slow and plodding for my personal tastes. Having said that, it isn't that bad that i would ever bother skipping it, so it is only a minor critiscism.

The only problem for me is that, over here in Britain we don't even have a release date set for the album yet. I am desperate to see this band live now, and if the live performance lives up to the hype and the quality of this album, they'll be unmissable.

need a fun summer time cd for you upcoming road trip? look no further! schmack is jam-packed with kickin tracks that get in your head, and you just can't help singing along. at first, i had heard "walkie talkie man" on fuse and saw that sweet video. my first thought~ i must own that cd. although that song is close to my heart, it is nowhere near the best. "tsunami" is probably my top pick, it shows a more developed songwriting style which i think will continue to push steriogram in a more mature direction. not that i don't love the goofiness of "fat and proud" and "white trash", i just think that we can really expect great things from these new zealanders in the future. this is one of those like ludo or electric six that are just fun, pure and simple. this cd is great! go for it!

I saw this band for the first time months ago at a Smile Empty Soul show and they blew my mind. They have a great sound that mixes street punk with rap. The sound vaugely reminds me of an early Red Hot Chili Peppers. Needless to say every song on this album is exclellent and this is also a great live band so buy the album and go see their show.

Ive bene waiting for a sound like this for years-it reminds me alot of somthing Primus would put out-this cd is so cool-the lyrics are funny-the vocalist has a rely cool voice-lots of energy-i would love to see them live-BUY THIS CD YOU WILL LOVE IT-YOULL HAVE A HARD TIME NOT TAKING IT OUT OF YOUR CD PLAYER

GREAT CD

These guys f***king rock!! I can't get enough of it. Buy this cd now you won't be disapointed. I saw them live in NZ and if thats anything to go by, these guys are going to be the biggest thing in ages. They are huge in New Zealand, Japan, Australia... now they are finally getting the attention they deserve over here in the US.

...And yet this CD highly deserves this honor. It is one of the most catchy, fun summer albums of all time. It is such a hybrid of styles that its a genre of its own. This is one of the true tests of a band. If they played a different style... would they still be good? The answer with Steriogram is: yes, a thousand times yes. With crunching guitars and incredible vocals this album is just shy of brilliant.

With each new track a new style is explored from the pop of "Walkie Talkie Man" to the heavy guitars of "Fat and Proud" to the AltRock ballad "Be Good To Me." This band really covers its ground and covers it well. With some songs such as "In The City" the opening sounds like it could have been taken straight from a Metallica cover. In the case of "Schmack!" the chorus sounds strangely akin to Better Than Ezra. I dare any band to perform two contrasts greater than that and do it as well.

Another mark of this bands coherency and musicianship is the fact that if you took off the gloss and removed the smooth emcee style rapping and made an album of just the bands backbone music, itd still be a 5 star album. Everything this band does is solid, quality material on this CD. The sung vocals sound anywhere from John Mayer ("Be Good To Me") to Chris Cornell of Audioslave (chorus of "Fat and Proud"). The dynamics within this alone allows for greatness, but the smooth rapping of the emcee must also be factored in.

If anyone has ever heard MC Chris then they've heard the rapping from this CD: Incredibly smooth, clever rhymes, that sound like they're coming from an 8 year old boy. The contrast this achieves with the powerful voice of the sung lyrics could not be better done with anyone else. And the best part is that Steriogram knows how to use this effectively. They have well-written songs where they can sing two different parts simultaneously and the overlapping harmonies are pop/rock/hip hop nirvana (ala "Be Good To Me" and "Roadtrip").

This is a CD that should not be missed by fans of hip hop, rock, pop or good music in general. With an interesting fusion of styles and incredible musicianship Steriogram is a band that everyone should be hearing a lot more from soon. Recommended for fans of Quarashi or Better Than Ezra.

Before this CD came out, I got ahold of a 5 song demo from the band and I loved it. Every song on that demo was great! Then finally a few months later, this cd came out, with 3 of the 5 songs on the demo. My first listen, I wasn't sure what to say. The style of the music for the most part wasn't the same. If you heard the demo, and loved the songs with Tyson's rapping, this cd may at first disappoint you, with only a few where Tyson is an integral part of the song (Schmack, and On and On) BUT, the other songs after a few listens grew on me, and now I count this the best CD in my collection.

Im not entirely sure what to think of these guys. the first time i heard these guys was on the radio. i said to myself "what the hell..." and prepared myself to change the station, but something stopped me. I listened in a little more and couldnt help but be intrigued. I am a big fan of street punk, and you can definately hear its impression on this band. They sound like a 70s punk rock/ hip hop/ hardcore band. They actually seem to have some good talent which so many new bands lack anymore. They do seem slightly generic to me but something sets them apart from the cookie cutter pop emo crap you find all over the place anymore. I still do take a good liking to them though, very catchy. I suggest anyone who is into almost any kind of music go out and purchase this cd, you wont be let down.

i ahve been waiting since march 21 for this c.d. to come out. that is when i saw them and fell in love w/ their diverse sound. buy this c.d. it is one of the few where every song is good!

"Walkie Talkie Man" is an amazing song. You could compare these guys to the Beastie Boys with a punk sound added, but in my opinion, they are better than the Beastie Boys. Punk is coming back with New Zealanders. Steriogram is going to be huge and it's good that they are finally getting some recognition! I say if you like punk rock and hip-hop, you definitly have to get this album!