"Throwing a Wrench Into the American Music Machine"
Training for Utopia
In the spirit of digital-hardcore heroes Atari Teenage Riot and the
trademark chaotic hardcore/metal hybrid of T.F.U., this new CD mixes chaos
and electronica to be one of the more original CD's of the day. The opening
track, "50,000 Screaming T.F.U. Fans Can't Be Wrong," just pounds at your
eardrums with vocals reminiscient to the debut EP. The lyrics seem to focus
a lot more on society and point out its problems. "The State of Wyoming is
Worthless" eventually leads into this killer riff, but you come to find out
that the song is only 50 seconds long or something. Kind of a waste of a
really awesome riff, unfortunately. And with song titles like "Burt Reynolds
vs Godzilla" and "Tennessee Midget," you gotta wonder what the heck Ryan
Clark is thinking. But both the songs kick my own boodie, so who cares?
Track 6 completely caught me off guard, an emotional rock song?! Ryan
actually has a decent singing voice and muses a very beautiful love song
("Everything, Including the Stars, is Falling (Baby)"). It was too bad that
the next track had to be so loud because it kind of spoiled the moment. Oh
well. Throughout the CD, you hear plenty of drum loops and vocal FX, but
tracks 7-9 definitely have more of a electronica sound. "Dead Signal"
(originally on the debut EP) was remixed to "Dead Signal 2000" and it kind
of danceable, actually. Very cool. Overall this disc rocks the mighty foe
hammer and the audio snippets from the rock-n-roll movie, Airheads, is just
perfect. Nice touch boys. Plus, the artwork/design is by Don Clark (who's
done Embodyment and all the other T.F.U. releases), so it's extra cool.
go to the interviews section to hear a bit from Don Clark
Lars-O-Meter: 7.5 out of 10
Favorite Song: "50,000 Screaming T.F.U. Fans Can't Be Wrong"
Record Label: SolidState Records