Atom & His Package
““Redefining Music””
(Hopeless Records)
From the first nasal rap attack eliciting Bloodhound Gang flashbacks, I knew Atom & His Package was going to be a self-indulgent wankfest. When it works, this melds the better elements of say Ween, Devo, Nerf Herder and aforementioned Bloodhound Gang (but never as moronic). Kitschy and campy, sequencers and drum machines rule, and some appropriate distorted guitars to sneak into that indie rock set. Lyrics are funny and clever and usually don’t let you in on the joke. Atom even found himself a cool drummer as “Shopping Spree” actually rocks (despite the Playschool keyboard) with a great rolling beat and choppy guitars and clever sequencer breakdown in the middle. Atom’s voice sounds a lot like Tom Green when the Canadian comic goes on a musical trip. Clever for the set, and you can tell Atom & His Package knows the value of a pop hook. 15 songs deep of cute sequencer rock that isn’’t nearly as annoying as it should be.
