Ones and Zeroes

Today's Music of the Day is Immaculate Machine's Ones and Zeroes.

Immaculate Machine, if you've never heard of them, and I bet you haven't, make(s) high-energy spastic pop music. Sometimes they write ballads and let Kathryn Calder sing them, and her voice is usually enough to make me long for a person or a moment in time that maybe never really existed. The guys in the band are okay singers, I suppose, but Kathryn basically owns them in that regard.

Immaculate Machine, at their best, are a fun group. I think that their uptempo songs are generally their better compositions, but I appreciate even the lesser ballads; the balance allows the songs to stand out relative to each other. Sometimes the struggle with IM is that they seem to be a very young group, in terms of personality and song composition. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's often difficult to listen to their songs without wanting more from them: deeper lyrics, a greater sense of plot and emotional development from the music. Maybe the lyrics are akin to a writer who only uses first-person perspective, and qualms abound from such a trait.

Soon, though, it's easy to look at one tree, and another tree, and soon there are just trees instead of a forest. Music isn't always meant to be criticized; I think there should be some awareness, if not analysis, though this doesn't preclude enjoyment. So while it's easy enough to scrutinize Immaculate Machine's music to where it isn't enjoyable, these songs should be taken for what they are and not what they should be. It's not as if listening to Immaculate Machine is mandatory, or even expected.

Anyway, Ones and Zeroes, which is titled well, is a fairly enjoyable album. The compositions aren't intricate, but they are certainly listenable. "Phone Number" is boisterous to a degree that is hard to be unswayed by, and some of the ballads - "No Way Out" in particular - really hit their mark. I don't think that my sticking points about the album are invalid, but I also don't think they prevent me from enjoying it.

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Live moves on.