Pink Fluffy Cloud Machine
Rage Against The People That You Hate

review by Ruth


When you hang around with a lot of people who are musicians and the like, it's inevitable that the day will come when one of them sends you a demo which, well, isn't all that great. So what do you do? Do you forget about what you think and give your friends a little bit of a helping hand up (though it'll probably result on them being dropped back down again sooner or later)? Do you select a few chosen words and hope they don't notice that while they think you've told them that they could do better, you really thought they couldn't? Or do you risk their friendship, be brutally honest about the turd in a slipcase that someone has just given you, and hope they respect your journalistic integrity and conviction to tell it as it is? Well, I'd like to apologise to any members of Pink Fluffy Cloud Machine, but we here at Rock Midgets definitely fall into the latter category, so here goes...

This is the second worst demo I have heard this issue. The simplistic bass line leads into a mess of guitar (studio tricks presumably hiding guitarist Nick's woeful lack of ability), superceded by the tragically not bad vocals. It's a credit to the producers of this tape that it doesn't sound as atrocious as the PFCM live show.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's some massive ironic statement that their one track ep is not a serious song. So why is it not funny? While they're obviously trying to be clever - cue lyric "Let them know how much you hate them / and don't hide behind a big fat song" - it explodes back in their face when it's dressed up as a cod-western mess with such weak wordsmithery. If they have better songs up their sleeve, they're not doing themselves any favours by releasing this alone.

However you will note that I'm giving them half a point, rather than the zero given to Doc. This is because they a) unlike Doc, they do not sound like an Oasis covers band, and b) PFCM have a good drummer, though quite what he's doing here is beyond me.

Not long ago, the metal show Trashed on Fuse FM (Manchester University's Student Radio Station) started a phone vote with the question "Should all members of Pink Fluffy Cloud Machine be shot?". If they continue making music like this, the answer will be a resounding "yes".

0.5/5