Day 39, TJ Kong and the Atomic Bombs - Idiots

Stars: 3.5
Song: “10 Minutes,” “Post Apocalypse Blues,” “Photograph Waltz”
Show: 20$

TJ Kong and the Atomic Bombs have a miss-leading name. It has got indie-synth-pop written all over it. In reality, TJ Kong and the Atomic Bombs would probably never touch a drum machine. They’re too raw for that shit. And they play country. Sorta. They are more like damned city rats playing country-folk on steroids, actually. The beats pop like a hoe-down in hell, occasionally opening up to a more enthusiastic sing-along, and the songs are slightly illusive but always seem to surmount into snide indictments on something-or-other.

The vocalist sounds like a frog with a heart-ache: raspy and a little dark. It is surprising that he chose to use that instrument for this sort of high-powered honky-tonk. It would probably fit more naturally in a Smashing Pumpkins cover band, but that would be too obvious. It is his strange adaptation on country twang that gives this band character and worthy bite.

Humoring myself by continuing my solitary discussion I started during my Dr. Dog post about how context should not necessarily overwhelm your judgment on an album, I find myself torn whether of not I should bring up this next point. But I am going to anyway. These guys are a small-time band of a few Philly dudes, who happen to be friends of friends. But I did not mention this to discharge them of their imperfections or to tag on a disclaimer. I mentioned it because the amateurism is unfortunately pretty blatant. Luckily, this is not a result of poor song writing—far from it! It is the band’s crappy mix, lack of exploration, and resistance to come up with any counter melodies. The songs are simply comprised of a rhythm section cruising through the chords and the vocals. Not a lot else going on. There are two solos on the whole album, three or four noticeable hits where the rhythm is broken up, extenuated, etc., and maybe two melodies/counter melodies from any instrument other than the vocals. This makes things a little dry and empty. Luckily, they got some wild songwriting, intriguing vocalist, and a tight rhythm section which keeps them well above water.