Search - Atomic Swindlers :: Coming Out Electric

An exquisite triple-coup

Subhash Kulkarni | Rochester, NY | 10/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"(This review is soon to appear on whoneedscritics.com, the perpetually soon-to-appear website of writer Saby Reyes-Kulkarni:)



On an immediate level, Coming Out Electric is most striking for just how darn *listenable* it is from start to finish. In fact, to call it catchy wouldn't do justice to the craftsmanship and finesse involved in making a group of songs so easy and pleasurable to digest. Listeners should very easily find themselves absorbed yet still maintain only casual involvement in the music if that's as far as they want to go. Where bands like, say, Pink Floyd and Radiohead excel at turning texture into thickness, into a feeling of heft that the listener derives satisfaction from carrying on their shoulders and having to wade through, the Atomic Swindlers make you lightheaded and giddy from drifting through songs composed of the outer edges of ozone that stand between our planet's atmosphere and the blackness of space. Up there the oxygen is thin, so you get that ever-elusive buzz that's just right while guitar squalls echo towards you like flashes of iridescent starlight and trembling, gorgeous piano chords send ripples out from your speakers directly to the pleasure centers of your brain.



Which is not to say that Coming Out lacks drama. On the contrary -- so lovely are these sounds that they bring to mind what Rutger Hauer's replicant character describes for Harrison Ford in the climax of the film Blade Runner, his "I have seen" speech that bears witness to a beauty of unrestrainable radiance and power that lies beyond humanity's grasp. If you've never tried to reach out towards that beauty -- a beauty that Ridley Scott's tragic, doomed android holds close before dying and even tries to impart upon the human antagonist in charge of his own execution -- then you'll be better off for allowing this music to enable you.



Blade Runner might seem like a heavy comparison, but the band itself is actually not far off. The imagery in the songs is forged by lyricists -- drummer Roy Stein, singer April Laragy, and bassist Gary Trainer -- who all have a natural eye for apocalyptic urgency and gloom. (Trainer, for example, bears the mark of authors like William Gibson, Philip K. Dick, and William Burroughs, as well as Allen Ginsberg.) But this is the coup -- the first of three, in fact, that the band pulls off here: depending on your preference or mood, you're free to make the choice between riding the clouds at the surface or descending further into the depths of the music where not only do hidden sonic challenges await but individual souls struggle against a vague but distinctly menacing presence that throbs at the center of our galaxy and threatens to take over the universe and our collective consciousness with it.



How can an album feel like a Friday-night, take-a-load-off-your-feet tonic yet take you to a place where mankind races against spiritual extinction? It's not an easy balance to strike. In fact, it's damn near impossible, yet the Swindlers pull it off. Just like they pull off their second coup (also seemingly impossible): with flair -- by the ostentatious opening chords of the second tune, it's obvious that this band worships at the Altar of Glam. Nowhere do they sound even remotely ashamed of borrowing licks from David Bowie. But, while they call on definitively retro elements, they also move *forward* with them. This is, in truth, futuristic music -- and thus it shows-up so many other modern acts as the soulless, cynical, calculated, creatively bankrupt retrophilic clowns that they are. In fact, even the Swindlers' reverence for glam would eventually grow cloying and overwrought if the band weren't so quick on its feet with subtle, tasty splashes of innovation. In other words, it's apparent that this band loves glam too much to sell it short by presenting it frozen in a time capsule.



Of course, no matter how ambitious this thematic palette might be, the sonics need to provide a solid foundation for the images to come to life. The Atomic Swindlers employ references to extraterrestrials, mass enlightenment, repressive social conditioning, homosexuality (as an ambiguous metaphor for freedom), domestic violence, and hints of the occult. You might have to dig a little to unearth some of these aspects, but engineer Chris Hooker's superb, multi-faceted, and nuance-rich mix makes it all the more worthwhile to go digging -- or not. If you do, you will find that the lyrics are matched perfectly by the special character of the music. (According to Trainer, the lyrics and songwriting and mixing all grew organically together, which makes sense when you consider the album's cohesion.) The strength of Hooker's contribution here can't be overstated: Coming Out is, inexplicably, a "headphones" record where you don't need headphones in order to feel like you're wearing them. It's rare that an album can make your room feel like the space inside your own head, but this music *really* pulls you into it. And the mix is equisitely smooth without sounding over-produced (the third aspect of the aforementioned triple-coup).



Again, you might simply find yourself in the mood to turn-on, tune-out, and sing along with a martini in your hand or pop the album in for background noise while you get dressed for a night on the town. Whatever level of introspective brooding you may favor at the moment, you just can't miss with Coming Out Electric.

"

Coming Out Electric is out of this world

C. Witwer | Seattle WA | 09/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Rochester, NY based Atomic Swindlers are an out of this world phenomenon with a cosmic groove, a hip spacey sound, celestial lyrics, and a hot front woman oozing sex.



Coming Out Electric is heavy with retro 70's beats, stunning melodic guitars, edgy glam rock, and an out-of-this-world sound thanks to Chris Yockel's sitar work, wah wah, and Fender super reverb tremolo. Scott Ostrowski (guitars, vocals) makes the underlying rockabilly happen, and Roy Stein (drums, guitar, vocals) pens a number of songs on the disc.



For the album, Atomic Swindlers also brought in Brian Eggleston on piano and additional keyboards. The group even snagged former Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra concertmaster and current neighbor of Laragy and Stein, Howard Weiss for violin tracks on "Float (my electric stargirl" and "Underground Love."



Think David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust period-- time-traveling to the days when bands told stories with their music. Atomic Swindlers will make you think of the Beatles while sounding terribly modern even as they pull in influences such as Iggy Pop, Blondie, Joan Jett and vocally, some early Stefani.



The band's upbeat musical style shouldn't be allowed to overshadow its darker lyrical message, however - listen closely. Notable tracks include "Diamond Dreamer," "Underground Love" and "Stars in my Pocket," as well as "Sex66" with its edgy, driving rock and fantastic lyrics.



In all, the Atomic Swindler's debut release, Coming Out Electric, is a wonderfully-conceived, smartly-written, excellently-produced album. More than that, it's a heck of a lot of fun to listen to. We'll be hearing more from this band in the future."

Flat Out Great CD

T.J. Roberts | 09/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"People are comparing this to Bowie, Flaming Lips, Iggy Pop, etc........some pretty heady stuff. I'd basically have to agree with all of this but what people haven't mentioned is just how fantastic sounding and looking the band's female lead vocalist is. Ask yourself,when is the last time you heard a band with a female vocalist being compared to Bowie, Iggy Pop and the Flaming Lips? Uh...........like maybe never!! What a flat out great CD."