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"Machine Go Boom's Thank You Captain Obvious is the grown up version of a bunch of kids on a pile of rubble throwing rocks at bags in trees." Wheelchair Riot "After one listen, [Machine Go Boom] have become one of my new favorite bands. Thank You Captain Obvious harkens back to when punk was rebellious and completely anti-pop. This album sounds like a long lost recording from the '70s. It fits nicely next to London Calling and Never Mind the Bullocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. Both 'Captain Obvious' and 'Hot Potato' sound like The Pixies met IMA Robot. Both songs are spastic, jumbled messes of beauty. 'Hail to the King' takes all the niceties of music and quietly blows them away by repeating one guitar note and having a call and response session with a bunch of kids... screaming kids, of course. Machine Go Boom also know how to write a great acoustic ballad. The Weezer-esque 'Ms. Hepburn’s House' displays Mikey Machine’s softer side, like 'The Sweater Song' did for Weezer. 'Kamikazi Plane' could have easily been an outtake from Beck’s Sea Change. . . . Thank You Captain Obvious is one of the best albums of the year, because of its deft concoction of quirkiness and seriousness. Machine Go Boom has made one of the few albums where the cover of the album perfectly illustrates the contents: Nothing but pure enjoyment." "If, like me, you've grown a bit disenchanted with fashion-dance-rock, with its requisite new-wave haircuts, and have been embracing records from the indie pop-rock stable (Ted Leo, A.C. Newman & the New Pornographers, and Of Montreal) simply because they feel like breaths of fresh air, perk up your ears. Machine Go Boom's energy and unpretentiousness, not to mention Mikey's knack for writing a catchy a pop hook and willingness to shriek out 'la-la-la' whenever necessary, are plenty charming. Naysay if you must about the titular instrument of 'The Kazoo Star' but the song built around it is, like the rest of the album, so fucking likable that one can hardly argue with the results. MGB throw everything they've got into Thank You Captain Obvious, and props are the least one can offer." (DAN ZP's #1 ALBUM OF 2004.) "I guess the first name to invoke is Neutral Milk Hotel, but Mikey Machine has 1) a sense of humor and 2) a Midwestern appreciation for sloppiness. Both qualities pile their way into Captain Obvious as gleefully as frat guys cramming into a phone booth. Then once you're chuckling, deep in the task of puzzling out MGB's sonics and asides, the emotion of the songs will ambush you utterly. Sneaky bastard, that Mikey. 'Li'l Devil' boils our President down to a pair of hot, angry-red nubs; 'The Punchline Song' out-wearies Mark Eitzel by throwing in a wink, and 'Ms. Hepburn's House' is startlingly beautiful, even as its helium vocal trembles. This is a crazy-sounding album from a goofy-sounding band -- but in the end it isn't fooling around at all." "Exciting and enjoyable and worth a listen or ten." Punk Planet #66
"At the heart of it, Thank You Captain Obvious is a remarkably innocent, unfiltered, joyously free chunk of pop genius, infused with a sense of childish glee and plenty of reckless abandon (see the full-on rock blowout of 'Madeline isn't Coming Home'). That's a pretty incredible thing to find in our sad era of pre-fabricated, too-thought-out, made-to-sell rock bands. At the beginning of 'Lil' Devil,' Mikey Machine admits that 'I don't think I think the way I'm s'posed to think / I don't think that that's gonna stop.' I certainly hope it doesn't." "A one-man, folk-punk army of catchiness and pop. . . . I had this CD in my car for three days and it got better with every listen." Slug and Lettuce "Machine Go Boom is hard to categorize. It's not a band, but one guy called "Mikey Machine." At times, Mikey is creating terrific Ween-like rock, as on "Captain Obvious," and other times he's mixing that style up with some Devendra Banhart-ish moments as on the opening track, "Lil Devil." So basically what you have here is something completely original and fresh and worth picking up. Other tracks, like the oddly sincere "What My Buddy Said" almost border on '70s acoustic So-Cal pop, while "Hot Potato" and "The Kazoo Star" take off in the freaky directions you might expect them to with those titles. But it's all very modern and quirky in the end, making Thank You, Captain Obvious one of those albums that reminds you of how great indie-pop can often be." "Starting as a solo folk-ish project, Machine Go Boom has evolved into a high-energy indie-rock outfit. Upbeat, danceable tunes fill this disc. 'Hot Potato' has the feel of a song that comes complete with a dance step already made. The quick paced 'Captain Obvious' flirts with 60’s British rock and seems to have landed a date. The music is fun and mostly lighthearted even when the lyrics turn dark. 'This Song Is A Secret' is a great way to end a long night at the bar with old friends. Even sober at home I find myself swaying along, singing badly and holding my imaginary beer high in the air. A neat selection of catchy, clever pop songs Thank You Captain Obvious is a strong debut." back |
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