Born and bred in the Midwest and corn-fed a diet of
hard rock
and
powerhouse pop
,
Sinomatic
are all about influences and familiar sounds -- astute listeners will pick up pieces of both
U2
INXS
(look for a bit of
Michael Hutchence
resemblance on the jacket pictures) on this debut set, with a little bit of
R.E.M.
thrown in for good measure. They're a slick lot, and doubtless will manage to heave a couple of tracks onto movie soundtrack albums along the line, but the exercise ultimately has an empty quality to it -- this set of sounds and musical notions has been heard too many times before. Influences and familiar sounds tend not to create something that sticks in the cultural memory. ~ Steven McDonald