Punknews.org | Fingers Cut Megamachine - Fingers Cut Megamachine

Review Navigator

Features

Reviews

Fingers Cut Megamachine

Fingers Cut Megamachine
2005
Thick

Fingers Cut Megamachine - Fingers Cut Megamachine (Cover Artwork)

Review by: Matt Whelihan
See others by this writer

MP3s (link)

Only registered users
can post comments

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.

Login to rate this album

People who liked this also liked:

Please login or register to post comments.

What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, August 27, 2005 at 2:44 AM (EDT)

Unreal CD!

Posted by sciulli on 2005-04-13 03:33:38

"Backseat" is phat.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 at 2:18 AM (EST)
My Score:

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?

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, March 28, 2005 at 4:12 PM (EST)

great record. spot on review. thanks

Posted by johnrambo on 2005-03-23 20:57:34
My Score:

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.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 at 8:01 PM (EST)

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.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 at 2:08 PM (EST)

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.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 at 10:46 AM (EST)

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.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 10:23 PM (EST)
My Score:

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

-Chinatown

Posted by johnrambo on 2005-03-22 20:07:40

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.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 3:13 PM (EST)
My Score:

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

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 10:36 AM (EST)

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

Posted by 8dollarclarinetsolo on 2005-03-22 04:14:17

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

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 3:25 AM (EST)

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.

Posted by sciulli on 2005-03-22 00:15:00

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

Posted by ubershep on 2005-03-22 00:07:29
My Score:

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

Features

Contests

Reviews

Fingers Cut Megamachine