The Airborne Toxic Event's Self-Titled LP: The Pennypacker Perspective

So anyone who reads this blog (all four of you) could pretty much expect that this record was going to get a positive review here. But even I did not expect how much of a positive review I would have to offer. As of right now, the Airborne Toxic Event's self-titled LP is the best album of 2008. There is not a stinker in the bunch, not a single filler track. It is an album full of hits from start to finish. The live shows and the pre-LP releases made a pretty overwhelming case for Mikel Jollet's just about perfect ability to write a catchy pop hook but this record not only showcases that ability, it puts it in amber. He knows what makes a hit (whether the songs actually become hits or not is irrelevant, it's the fact that he knows, you know, and I know that this is what it takes to sound like a hit factory). The word "craft" is more applicable to this band right now than pretty much anyone out there. The songcraft, the actual construction, the precision, the methodology - sure it sounds sort of mechanical but don't be mistaken, this is far from lifeless. This is as vibrant and potent and moving as modern pop-rock can be and can go.

OK there is one sort-of-problem: When something like this is so easily, almost effortlessly, good, it sort of leads to a shortage of words. Let's face it, a record with problems can lead to a more in-depth dissection. What's there to dissect here? Five very talented people got together, put together some very sharp, very spot-on rock n' roll songs, found an equilibrium between rock and pop, and released just about the most damned flawless record of 2008 so far. It's to their credit, not their detriment, that a full-blown long-winded essay is not in order (ironic, considering all the literary basis for the band's music).

Erica over at BL&L (the East Coast's best source for all things A.T.E., we're number 2! we're number 2!) caught up with Mikel at the band's recent DC show. Erica has provided a link to the Conan performance in the comments page (I plum forgot that NBC puts its programming up at that HULU site) and the band itself has linked to this (probably illegal) YouTube clipping of the performance on their MySpace page (which is still, god bless 'em, their only official web page).