Miller (USA)

COMPLETE BUFFONERY album review

One legged girls, intestinal diseases, pizza, mullets, and whale blubber? It takes a cunning linguist to fuse stupidity with intelligence forcing these subject matters into the realm of interesting. Miller plays with words as would a maniacal prodigy who gets their kicks from throwing dirty thoughts into clean minds and having them laugh about it.

Complete Buffoonery is chock full of humorous off-center material delivered tightly with literary acrobatics. Sans a band, Mike Miller pushes forward making the best use of his resources driving his artistic expression through the use of synthesizers and drum machines. Of course, none of this would matter without the ability to write complimentary music. With an apparent knowledge and appreciation of many genres, Miller has crafted an eclectic style incorporating contemporary punk, electro, synth pop, rock, and minimalism just to mention a few. Seeming to be a prerequisite these days, a one-man band almost needs to have the "jack of all trades" gene in order to bring their active imaginations to reality.

"Missing Him, Missing Limb" is the opening track that explores falling in love with a girl who only has one leg.

"Concerned that times in bed will never be as fun, but his third leg makes up for her missing one. Do you know what it's like to be in love with a girl who is missing an appendage?"

Miller helps us to try and understand this socially relevant issue... and laugh about it!

"Domino's Blows", is an anti-corporate theme song for how much big business can ruin what is possibly one of the best foods in the entire world.

"Support and patronize your local mom and pop pizza shop cause they're magnifico while Domino's blows."

It's true, and not just with pizza, but with any product that can be mass produced while boosting profits and negleting the delivery of quality goods.

Miller also shows us his power of mental suggestion with the next track "Master-Baiter". With lyrics like:

"I've never mastered anything like mastering a thing like master-baiting"

or better yet,

"Take the rod, grip the shaft, jerk your wrist, splash!"

At first listen, you're tempted to focus on the dirty thought, but after you pay even closer attention you realize that the song is really about sport fishing. Another laugh and you're left feeling a little guilty about hanging out in the gutter.

Miller's approach to music and song writing is perfect for the adventursome listener. There's proof that artists like Weird Al Yankovic, the late great Frank Zappa, and Ween all have loyal fans in a widespread audience. Unfortunately, if you're into bands that are on clear channel, Miller probably won't delivery the goods. But if that were really the case, I doubt you'd even be on this site reading this review. So with that being said, you should visit mikemilleratyourcervix.com and buy his album Complete Buffonery.

Support and patronize cause radio blows!

Final grade = 8 of 10

Buy it!

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Hyperbubble (San Antonio, TX)

 SOL!D POP album review

"Solid Pop" is a skillfully crafted collection of pop songs fit for the young and the young at heart. Technology is child's play in the hands of Hyperbubble, a duo from Texas who have genetically crossbred the styles of Freezepop, Kraftwerk, Blondie, and Fischerspooner.

Jess and Jeff have an electro-magnetic chemistry that is quite evident in their music. Jeff sings and vocodes while manipulating an arsenal of synths and sequencers to create the robotic rythms and mechanical melodies reminiscent of Kraftwerk. Jess compliments the music with her vocals that have a slight similarity of Liz Enthusiasm's (Freezepop) and a hint of Lizzy Yoder's (Fischerspooner) mannerisms. This combination works and makes for an entertaining listen.

Songs like VEND!NG MACH!NE, B!ON!C G!RL and MOM DAD UN!T would fit very nicely during a set of Saturday morning cartoons or a late night on Cartoon Network, but it's not just for kids. The music is innocent and playful while being intelligent enough for listeners of all ages.

PSYCH!C CONNECT!ON is a seductive mid-tempo dance groove that features Jess role playing as a psychic network friend. This particular song seems to intentionally pay homage to the group Blondie with lyrics "Call me!" triggering the thought. "I'm a psychic and you like it. So call me." (Well, yes I do like it... so what's your number?)

Leon is an annoyingly cute song about their cat that features guest meows from "Leon". (Sorry a little bit of bias from this side, cats meowing is a pet peeve of mine, but we know that people who love their own cats should love this song too.)

For the moments when the hyperactive music gets to be a bit much, a real gem of a song emerges at just the right moment. ANOTHER R!DE takes the energy level down a notch and massages your nerves.

"Time doesn't drive in reverse so never mind. Leave your troubles, tears and worries far behind. Take your favorite CD and get inside. Pull the seat back turn the key and drive. Far away. You and I. Well I guess it's time we took another ride."

Hyperbubble's music asks the people who have become hardened by life to relax, have fun, and remember what it's like to view the world with wonder and amazement, almost as a child does. In a world filled with corruption and apathy, you can surprisingly find some relief with "Solid Pop".

Final grade = 8.5 of 10
Buy it!

official website

Electric Badness (Sacramento, CA)
"I gotta take that beat beat beating heart from your fingertips!", exclaims Electric Badness. "I wish your words could still move me like a firework in my hand". Electric Badness backs up every ounce of their self-proclaimed "badness" in "Take That Beat Beat" which is available on their 7" single. Robust song writing and frantic vocals give this group a distinct quality in the modern dance rock genre with vocals that resemble a cross-breeding of Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse) and David Byrne (early Talking Heads era). There is definitely a "Dance Rock" movement taking shape and gaining momentum. No, Franz Ferdinand, Hot Hot Heat, The Killers, The Faint, etc... these bands are not the apex of the Dance Rock movement. Though all those groups are very likeable and have brought mainstream attention to themselves and bands like them, there is still much more that can be done within the movement of Dance Rock. Electric Badness is certain to become a large part of that movement. Now is the time to prove your scenester sensibilities and adopt Electric Badness as one of the bands that you decided was "cool" before they were "cool". We're being both sarcastic and serious in that statement... we actually despise scenesters and being too cool for school, but if you are, then Electric Badness will certainly add to your own self-proclaimed "badness".

FIRST IMPRESSION RATING = 5 OF 5

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Casionauts (Lansing, MI)
A force to be reckoned with, Casionauts unleash furious dance grooves with frenetic vocals that scream things like, "Don't walk the streets at night without a gun in your hand and a lightning fast trigger finger" in their song "Zombies from Detroit". With a musical attitude that resonates [my casio wants to kill your momma] Ryan Balderas plays his keyboard and he plays it well. So well in fact, that it just might kill your momma. The line-up of the group is what you would expect from a typical indie rock group (guitar/guitar/bass/drums), but this is a new breed of indie rock infused with true punk rock energy and casio agility. We don't mean to dwell on the casio factor of the group, but Casionauts have figured out how to take crappy keyboards and make them not suck as much. This actually has less to do with the keyboards and more to do with the fact that they know how to write really good songs that would be just as good if they played them with shoe boxes and rubber bands. This is one of the few bands on myspace that we've had the opportunity to see live. They are definitely worth at least 4x the amount you'd pay to see them and they are on tour right now. Visit their site, find a city near you and you can help them "Make the party, Go! Go! Go! Go!".

FIRST IMPRESSION RATING = 4 OF 5

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Femme Fatality (St. Louis, MO)
With a voice that's haunted by the spirit of Ian Curtis (at times) and hair that could kill, the music of Femme Fatality will whip the "clumsiest dweeb" into an Ultra-Sexy Dance Machine within the first measure - "Woo! Get your hands up!". The "new age" of Electro-Punk is reinforced by this duo's crafty disco arrangements. Upbeat rythms, one octave bass lines and intertwining synthetic melodies carry the lyrics whose subject matters tackle every aspect of being a socialite and all around creature of the night. Party-time carefree attitudes will now be driven to dance their pain away.

FIRST IMPRESSION RATING = 4 OF 5

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Clap! Clap! (San Marcos, TX)
Dance music designed around the most simplistic percusive instrument known to mankind, the clap. So have you got it? Upon first listen of this groups anthem, "ClapClap", you'll find yourself jumping up and down while smacking your hands together harder than necessary. We can only imagine that attending a full performance of this group will have your hands looking like big red balloons, the kind you'd see in a Tom n' Jerry cartoon. "Everywhere that we go, we bring the party. Cause we love to dance/clap more than anybody". Clap! Clap! pushes a sound of funky bass guitar driven disco beats highlighted with guitar twang and synth melody. We're certain that with the energy and liveliness expressed in their songs, spectators of a live performance will be highly motivated to make their own hands explode.

FIRST IMPRESSION RATING = 4 OF 5

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Totally Radd!! (Los Angeles, CA)

Compute this Nerds! Nintendo + bad wigs + samurai swords + disco balls + absurd lyrics = Totally Radd!! These three west coast weirdos can be found on the label Retard Disco with a gang of other similarly retarded but strangley unique and likeable artists. Their 8-bit music inspired by Nintendo sounds have been skillfully manipulated with punk ethic. "Dressed Up", a song about a woman trapped inside a man's body, was the purchase point for us. With lyrics saying, "My girlfriend won't let me wear her clothes anymore. She says I look like a ten dollar whore. I don't care how my family feels." Equally entertaining and absurd are their videos which drive home the stupid brilliance of Totally Rad!! Clearly DIY and totally effective.

FIRST IMPRESSION RATING = 4 OF 5

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