July 2005 PRESS
Wham, Bam, Thank You Glam
Fancy-pants glitter bands from Detroit, Canada,
and upstate remember their forefathers
by George Smith
The Village Voice
July 28th, 2005
Credit the notices doled out to T. Rex disciplesLouis
XIV for a reason to drag out old glam records.
And then, once Slade and Mott the Hoople sides
have been worked through again, it's nice to have
new things to consider. Since glitter and glam
are always in style somewhere, the task of finding
good material is easy
Take, for instance, the very best in a fine bunch, Coming
Out Electric by Atomic Swindlers
from upstate New York. Guitar rave-ups stud lush
pop tunes sung by April Laragy, who dresses in
a blue vinyl suit and silver boots. Reclining
in a drainpipe for the cover, she's supposed to
be a mix between Barbarella and Samurai Jack,
although you may think a bit of Debbie Harry. "Jupiter's
falling," she
sings, and it's reminiscent of Be Bop Deluxe's
Modern Music—which means nothing
to many, so think of it as a high point in orchestral
rock melody. Also hot: the "Hang Onto Yourself" riff
filched for "Diamond Dreamers."
It's hard to tell if Atomic Swindlers are really
doing a rock opera about spacebiker lesbian stargirls
in love, or just writing good hooks and hanging
them on exotic thigh-rubbing imagery to get attention.
The drummer is a college professor and is also
the producer, delivering a knob job that's sonically
Alan Parsons-engineered Pink Floyd-y. Doubtless,
no one in their Rochester home must know what
to make of it: atom airships crashing into the
bay, every day, if you know what I mean. And I
think you do.
back
Coming
Out Electric
Atomic Swindlers
07.06.05
www.GayWired.com
www.LesbainNation.com
Review by Chris S. Witwer
The Atomic Swindlers' new release Coming Out
Electric is an intergalactic concept album featuring
the sexually-charged vocals of former cow punk
singer April Laragy. Every song on Coming Out
Electric touches on science fiction or space themes,
and there are quite a few homoerotic underpinnings.
How could you not love an album with a track
called “Intergalactic Lesbian Love Song”?
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 – not to mention
her space-themed guitar decorated in the art car
tradition.
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.”
But April Laragy seems to be the rising star
here. She wrote four of the album’s songs
herself, sings those crazy-infectious lead vocals,
plays keyboards and acoustic guitar, and puts
her face (and legs and breasts and ass… for
that matter) out there. She’s almost outrageous
with her space costumes, funky pistol, and stark
white hair.
Laragy is not alone—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:
You know the space
that lies between a bullet
and its mark
Well I own that place
and honey
that's where I'll hang your heart
The enhanced CD contains the "Float" video,
which was deservedly well-received when it debuted
at the ImagineOut Festival and has so far been
accepted for screenings at five film festivals.
It’s a video you’ll have to see to
believe. It’s a Jetsons-meets-South-Park-meets-Anime
depiction of a story about a sleek hot babe searching
the galaxy for her grrl—who also happens
to be a sleek hot babe in need of rescue. The
two ride off on a chopper wrapped around each
other in a girl-on-girl moment rarely seen in
a music video - animated or not.
Coming Out Electric is already receiving
wide priaise by SciFi.com’s
Sound Space, Spike
Magazine and various other web sites and
publications. The Atomic Swindlers have launched
this debut album with a sonic boom. Percussionist
Roy Stein’s song, “Float” made
it to the top 20 nationally on XM Satellite Radio’s
unsigned band station.
Coming Out Electric is available through CDBaby and
at Tower Records.
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