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Fingers Cut Megamachine

Fingers Cut Megamachine (2005)
Thick Records

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Contributed by: Matt Whelihan
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on March 22nd 2005

After a couple releases, numerous postponements, and a label switch, the debut full-length from Fingers Cut Megamachine has finally arrived. Luckily, this batch of eleven songs (13 if you count the two hidden tracks) was well worth the wait.

Devon Williams' songwriting ability has always been impressive and this album is no exception. Here Williams has crafted an intimate and comforting mix of folk, country, and indie pop. The songs have a relaxed and beautiful feel, but at the same time are delivered with an undeniable fervor. Williams is able to take an older man’s world-weary tone and inject it with his own youthful urgency. On this album the band handles everything from Simon Joyner-inspired fare, (“Do You Hear Wedding Bells?”) to driving acoustic pop, (“Recovery,” “Backseat”) country twang, (“Rough Dreams”) and traditional folk (“Open Up the Yellow Cross,” “Release Me”).

If his two albums with Osker were any indicator, Williams’s lyrics only get better with each of his releases, and FCMM sees him upping the ante yet again. Williams succeeds lyrically because, while he is poetic, he never gets too abstract or verbose. These are not pretentious indie lyrics that take a dictionary, knowledge of arcane pop culture references, or a degree in English to decipher; instead, the songs lead the listener through a set of detailed vignettes that are easy to understand, yet still maintain depth. Lines like the ones from the album’s opener, “Waist deep / hands on the water / a little boy is wading / just laugh it off,” show Williams’s ability to paint a scene, while lines like, “Weighted like a feather / and all the time will lapse / If you won’t answer / I won’t go looking,” show his capacity for explaining internal conflicts without succumbing to emo’s mock tear pitfalls.

My only complaint about this album is the lack of material after such a long wait. While there are eleven songs here, three of them (“Rough Dreams,” “Orange Barrel” and “Release Me”) have been on the band’s site for months, while another two (“Testament” and “Laughs Per Minute”) have appeared in different forms on previous releases. Still, that isn’t enough to hinder an amazing album.

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Anonymous (August 27, 2005)

Unreal CD!

sciulli (April 13, 2005)

"Backseat" is phat.

Anonymous (March 29, 2005)

This album is amazing, catchiness of Osker, the power of Devon, all done with acoustic beauty, it will work until Devon (hopefully) releases Idle Will Kill part II, by the way what does the reviewer consider a secret track?

Anonymous (March 28, 2005)

great record. spot on review. thanks

johnrambo (March 23, 2005)

instead of STD or GUK's or The Smiths getting me through tough times in my life, Idle Will Kill got me through my toughest, and is still the only album to this day that i actually listen to for catharsis. something about it. its fucking pefect.

Anonymous (March 23, 2005)

I think a lot of people disagree with you on your negative assessment of Idle Will Kill.

What then, is different about this?

It seems like you'd find this to be more whiny experimental bullshit.

Anonymous (March 23, 2005)

Idle Will Kill is a whiney piece of shit of an album. This is far from a downward turn and is easily the best thing this dude has done in his career. Idle Will Kill is melodramatic teenage expirimental bullshit and is average at best.

Anonymous (March 23, 2005)

China,

Nope.

It's nice to hear Williams' songwriting and vocals again, but it is a BIG DOWNWARD DEPARTURE from Osker, especially after Idle Will Kill.

Anonymous (March 22, 2005)

This album is going to be fucking great. I just hope Thick's mail order is reasonably fast...

-Chinatown

johnrambo (March 22, 2005)

yea i wish i could have found this guy in stores today instead of ordering it online.

even though they are all quite different... Idle Will Kill, Color Tub, and the 3-Song Sampler (my reference for this albumn) are all fucking works of art. treatment 5 is real good too, but everything past it was soo much better.

Anonymous (March 22, 2005)

Fantastic. I love this like I love oxygen. And that's a lot.

Anonymous (March 22, 2005)

i haven't picked it up yet, but Thick released a statement saying the album was available for order/delivery over two weeks ago...a number of people on the Classic osker F orum had already picked it up weeks ago

8dollarclarinetsolo (March 22, 2005)

its no idle will kill, but i will probably pick it up. i got the 7"s, color tub and the 3song ep, so i might as well pick this up to complete the collection. OKNO should have made it onto this cd

Anonymous (March 22, 2005)

The FCMM stuff is alright, but I don't think that the instrumentation is that interesting. Williams' lyrics, vocals, and structure are still very compelling, but I don't think this is nearly as impressive as Idle Will Kill was or what someone who wrote Idle Will Kill over three years ago would be up to.

sciulli (March 22, 2005)

If you are talking about this album, it doesn't come out until tomorrow (well technically today).

ubershep (March 22, 2005)

I like this band as much as I like Osker. I only wish I could find the damn album instead of downloading mp3s.