Just under a decade ago, when The Boss Martians abandoned their surf revivalist persona in favor of a harder-edged, garage/pop style, they held tight to several of the lessons learned in their previous incarnation—most notably the importance of melody, and the power of a perfectly placed guitar lick. Pressure in the SODO masterfully weds lead Martian Evan Foster’s considerable songwriting skills to the band’s high powered guitar attack, and injects just a touch of sneering punk attitude for good measure. The band has studied their music history lessons well—“No One to No One” could be a newly uncovered Thin Lizzy track, while “If You Only Knew” starts off on a “She’s Not There” groove before rocketing into the stratosphere. Neo-garage rockers such as “Go On” and “Don’t Want to See You Again” serve as perfect illustrations as to why The Boss Martians are favorites on Little Steven Van Zandt’s radio show. The Farfisa-tinged “Hey Hey Yeah Yeah” recalls a slightly more polished version of the Fleshtones. Best of all is “M is for Martians,” co-written by and featuring the legendary Iggy Pop. While I have absolutely no clue as to what the song is actually about, I can tell you that I loved every bloody second of it.
--Rick Schadelbauer [August 14, 2008]
