Well that’s an obnoxious title for a record. It’s pretty pretentious, too. Atom, you’re already off to a bad start.
Let’s rewind a bit, though. Last summer, I was playing around on Ishkur’s Guide to Electronic Music—an amazing website that explains the numerous different subgenres of, guess what, electronic music—when I stumbled upon something called “Casiocore.” The third sample provided by Ishkur of this low-fi, high-ridiculous genre is 15 seconds or so of Where Eagles Dare, a Misfits cover by Atom and His Package. I was hooked, and quickly went to the YouTubes to satisfy my hunger for more.
I was impressed with the two or three other songs that I heard. For some reason, these songs popped into my head the other day, and I figured that it was time to check out a full album by Atom.
Fast forward to now. Redefining Music doesn’t really redefine music (in a positive sense, at least). It kind of characterizes music as a shouty, over-the-top, painful, amateurish thing. The problem with this record is that it lacks all of the charm that I heard in tracks Eagles or Hammer. Instead of wide-eyed and intrigued by everything around him, Atom comes off as another jaded punk—the only difference is that he uses a synth and sequencer.
I think I must have picked the wrong record here. Actually, I really hope that I picked the wrong record. I still love those few songs that I listened to a year ago, and if there’s an Atom & His Package record that sounds anything like that, I’d love to give it a shot.
Swole Ear 