Is it a hit, *hit or miss?

Atomship - Crash of �47  by  samdamonkey

Atomship - Crash of �47
Label: Wind-Up Records
Hit, *hit or Miss?:  Miss
Rating: 

It�s very early in the Presidential campaign process and as an individual voter I have yet to commit to any candidate. Uber-important issues aside, there is a way for John Q. Politician to get my backing almost immediately: outlaw the concept of the power trio.

I�m serious. Has there been a relevant threesome since the Traci Lords-Christy Canyon-Ron Jeremy heyday of porn? King�s X came close in the 80s as did Everclear in the 90s, but I�m sorry, The Presidents of the United States of American and anything that Les Claypool does can be filed under �N� for novelty-rock. Rush, while deserving of their place in the musical hierarchy are living on past prestige. Mainstream radio hasn�t pushed a current Rush song in 15 or 20 years.

And for those of you that think Triumph is only an insult comic dog, well...don�t even get me started.  The power trio is an outdated concept, like full-serve gasoline or the city of Detroit. 

There are those of you that will bring up The Goo Goo Dolls saying that they must be the exception to the rule, right? Well, hold your tongue. The Goo Goo Dolls lost all respectability directly after �Superstar Carwash� and Johnny Rzeznik got the hair cut Bon Jovi wished HE would�ve gotten.

Obviously, you can see my disdain for the power trio. But there is a way to make this bastardization of the band concept even worse...and Atomship has attained it. They don�t have a bass player. Not having a bass player in a power trio is like not having a �5� on a 
rotary telephone. 

My random bleetings aside, Atomship�s blend of musical gymnastics in a Tool meets Filter mode makes for a dizzying sampling for anyone except for those who have attention deficit disorder...and enjoy it. They hopscotch around in their freeform metal stylings in a masturbatory manner, not willing to embrace the fact that someone other than themselves might have to listen to their output.

To say that Joey Culver is a gifted singer or Chad Kent can play drums with the best of them (true statements) would be like saying Saddam Hussein liked dogs. The larger picture outweighs the individual capabilities. The album is produced nice and tightly, hitting on all the tonals you need an album like this to hit on. But I ask you, is the outstanding recording of hands across a blackboard progress? 

Wind Up Records are cutting out a nice niche for themselves in all the important progressive rock categories having signed the already-explode Evanascence and Drowning Pool as well as up-and-comer, Seether. But without knowing who they are marketing this to and for, this looks like a big swing and a miss.