last night becomes this morning review

review taken from albuquerque journal

Paul Maldonado Jr.

Defying categorization, this musical collective goes genre-hopping over the course of 15 songs. Each sounds as if it were from a different band, yet creates a cohesive experience. That might be due to the fact S@M has had up to 35 musicians in its lineup, including a total of 15 drummers, though not at the same time.

The droning "Losing The Battle, Losing The War" opens and it just gets better. A trumpet grounds the rambling rock 'n' roll of "Timing Is Everything"; indie-rock guitar propels "Still Life With Bottle Rockets"; "Ten Dollars" is a bang & twang lament; while "You Will Not Die Tonight (Probably)" devolves into a Zappa-esque freakout. The one-sentence refrain of "Suicide On The Installment Plan" - "Your way of life is getting in the way of your life" - closes the record with a delicate guitar-drum elegy.

Recorded over a two-year period, this is a fantastic record of perseverance that "chronicles the struggle to live life on the road inspite of (the) lack of fame or fortune," reads the band's bio. These little shards of philosophical and relationship angst ingrain themselves and will haunt you for some time.

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