"As requested by their screaming legions of fans! Reviews of Bionic Finger: Inner Bimbo,"
AntiMatters, July 2000
I think the CD sounds very good. It's a well-produced, clean
production job, and it makes it very easy to hear most of the lyrics.
That's a good thing, since the CD package doesn't have a lyric sheet.
It does have a list of the description of who played what on each cut,
which is really enlightening. Who knew that those girls could play so
many instruments so well? My favorite cut on the album is "A.S.S.H.O.L.E.,"
by Nan Turner. It's about a guy who should be blamed, "and it's time you
were...ashamed." Potent stuff. (Arnie Rogers)
Oh, the album's all right and everything, but where are the
naked pictures of the band? If the album's called Inner Bimbo,
shouldn't there be more pictures of Bionic Finger's outer bimbos?
One slut-shot on the outer cover is NOT ENOUGH.
The album's all right. With four songwriters, there's four
songwriting styles, and fourteen songs - damn, only thirteen.
Again: NOT ENOUGH. Anyway, Nan Turner's songs are alternative
cuts, with non-traditional time changes and different parts that
seem like they could be entirely different songs. Alina Moscovitz'
songs are the pop cuts, Pam Weis' song is an empowerment anthem,
and Christine Murray's are the slow burns...
A nice compilation of some of the better songwriting available
in New York Woman Rock, and all from one band...
The album's all right. (Gustav Plympton)
Bionic Finger released their new CD, Inner Bimbo, on the 6th of
May under a torrent of AntiFolk CD release party competition. Most
of you missed it, but close to one hundred of us New Yorkers, didnšt.
No antimatter. Appropriately enough, the show began with female
impersonator, Witti Repartee, introducing the band and desperately
attempting to convince the band and the rest of us that she also has an
inner bimbo. She didn't. The inner bimbo here is truly great music.
Bionic Finger is that tough 80's bubblegum girl group that you always
secretly liked and were proud to admit it. And Bionic Finger has all that
90's attitude to go with it. The Bangles were always way cool, but they
were way cooler during their All Over The Place phase. The Go-Gos were
always way cool throughout. Inner Bimbo is all of that on a CD that
would fit wonderfully on any WFMU show, especially Monday mornings at
9:00 with Hova.
Inner Bimbo's standout tracks include "24 Hour Bug" (which also
features Steve Espinola on the organ), "Melting Ice," and "Big Dick" (buried
in the middle at number 7). What makes Bionic Finger stand out as a band
and on these tracks is their instrumental flexibility, each member playing a
different instrument during each song on the CD and their live sets (the CD
and their live sets benefit rather than suffer for this exchange). Expect more
from this band real soon. (Mike Perazzetti)
I like "Guy in a Tie."
Christine Murray has written an excellent lonely guy song, from a boy's
Point of View, while being, well, a woman. Someone just said to me it's not as
important how much you do, so much as how far you go from where you
started. To be able to write such a sensitive, powerful song about a lonely,
lonely man, while playing for the other team...that's cool.
Also, "Guy in a Tie," has, because of the band's collaborative musical
innovation, a funky backing track, and an amazing release at the end, while
Christine, Nan and Pam rise together to sing, "Just another...guy in a tie."
Wow. (Jonathan Berger)
It's a big album, with thirteen cuts on it, with songs by each of the four
members of Bionic Finger. Just like their live performances, the CD showcases
all of the different songwriters, and all of the different playing combinations
that Bionic Finger uses. Just about everything sounds good, clean, clear, but
the more rocking numbers, like the second half of "Sweaty" and "Shut Up" just
don't rock out the way they should. Having seen them perform once or twice, I
can attest to the fact that these songs can sound very big, very powerful, but
something in the recording leaves them appearing relatively limp. That makes me
think that the album isn't the strongest testament to what Bionic Finger is
capable of. Some of the songs really work out, though. Like Christine Murray's
"Come On" and "10 Ft. Shadow."
And really, it makes all of the warring lines that the background vocalists
employ (as in "Get Like This" and "What I Think") very easy to hear and
understand. (Stephanie Biederman)
Why aren't there more songs by Pam Weis on this album? While Nan Turner
clocks in with five of the songs, Alina Moscovitz with four, and Christine Murray
with three, poor, poor Pam Weis is only presented with writing one song (one and
a fifth, if you count the full band collaboration on "Guy In a Tie," one of several
songs on the album from a male point of view). What sort of conspiracy is in the
works to keep Pam Weis out in the cold? Is this because of the other Fingers'
fear of a strong white woman presenting her music to the masses? Are they
threatened by her genius? I suggest AntiMatters use its considerable power to
uncover the secret behind the missing Weis songs. (Astrid Jones)