Atom and his Package: Redefining Music

BY JIM LAAKSO

Interested in Atom playing cards at his apartment? His friend Matt, with whom he runs File-13 Records? A band he knew that recently broke up? If not, Redefining Music ain't gonna float your boat. Each topic gets its own song, full of zany lyrics, weird bleeps and bloops, and singing best described as, well, sincere.

Atom does deserve credit for his song titles, the most solid aspect of the album. "Mission 1: Avoid Working With Assholes" and "If You Own the Washington Redskins, You're A Cock" are pure brilliance, worthy of gracing even a Wesley Willis composition, but Atom's songs never seem to live up to the promise of their titles. "If You Own the Washington Redskins, You're A Cock" contains some sharp lyrics, as the singer tackles the problem of racist sports team names: "Wouldn't it be offensive if we cheered `Rah rah rah' for the Carolina Negros/With our beatbox cheer and our fake foam afros?" Decent—if not obvious—points aside, the song's "Wah wah wah you're so P.C." chorus is obnoxious, just one of many moments on the album when Atom comes a bit too close for comfort to sounding like Blink-182.

Musically, this record won't stand out from the rest of the lo-fi electro-pop crowd, though lyrically it is a bit more clever than what you'd get from your average smart-ass rocker. All in all, it's quirky, mindless fun with a tendency to grate. Redefining music? Not quite. (Hopeless) 

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