FFWD Weekly
Copyright 1998 All Rights Reserved.

MUSIC REVIEWS
by FFWD Staff

TRANSISTOR SOUND & LIGHTING CO.
S/T
ViK/BMG

Trio of best pals from Winnipeg, Manitoba specializing in "fuzz
overtone, sunny lake music."

The first single, "Anyways/Mayonnaise," is what Dolby Sound was
invented for. 

Going through Transistor Sound & Lighting Co.'s album gave me the same
thrill as eating a bag of ketchup chips as a kid and finding a cool rock 
sticker at the bottom of the bag. Each time the album ends, I wipe the 
drool with my sleeve and scramble for the repeat button. 

These boys make the guitar wail like an opera vocalist and confidently 
oscillate between acoustic and plugged-in magic with precision and
prowess. They begin with a bullet of a lead-off track ("Coffee Song" 
- the best caffeine buzz I've ever experienced) complete with Battlestar 
Gallactica guitar sounds. Another heavy hitter is "Anyways/Mayonnaise" 
with stormy vocals and delightful speedster strumming. The rest of the 
tracks are flawlessly inventive, melodic, open and airy ("Prince Vince" 
and "Fly the Trike, A Faster Bike," especially). The pop is present and 
pleasant ("House of Sleep"), while other songs question a stereo's
capability with discordantly melodic, blood-and-thunder hooks. To make 
the experience complete, the last three tracks nip you in the butt with 
a different shower of sound before the album ends. 

Transistor Sound & Lighting Co. are an entertaining force with acoustic 
surety and electric mayhem. They're unconventional - the antithesis to 
most music genres - and give 16 sonic steps in 42 minutes flat to a 
completely cathartic encounter. 

5/5

Aubrey McInnis