Ninja Gun - Smooth Transitions / 2004 Barracuda Sound / 12 Tracks / http://www.ninjagun.com / http://www.barracudasound.com / Reviewed 24 January 2005
Poppy indie-rock that seems to be pulled up directly from a halcyon period of alternative rock, Ninja Gun should be placed in the Pantheon along with Matthew Sweet and Concrete Blonde. The mastering on �Smooth Transitions� is well, smooth and completely open in terms of allowing the band to do what they want without sounding as if this disc was recorded in a barn. Mixing in an adequate amount of alt-country during the early stages of the CD (The Smoking Gun), Ninja Gun sound as a less-emo version of Lucero, maintaining the same high quality of arrangement and musical talent that the aforementioned Lucero enjoy. The only thing holding back �Smoking Gun� from being a more solid sound is the purely unimginatifve country-esque guitar riff that permeates the track. Following up �Smoking Gun� with the Green Day and Replacements-like �Maybe You Should Explode� shows the limits that Ninja Gun have to work with; the two songs sound so dissimiliar that pretty much anything could be on �Smooth Transitions� and Ninja Gun will find some day to make it their own.
In their ode to Poison, �Purification Ritual� recalls the spirit of �Every Rose Has Its Thorn� down to the purely acoustic guitar line leading the track and the slightly-nazal set of vocals that lie over the track. Bringing back the earliest days of Screeching Weasel with �Dead FM�, Nina Gun is the consummate actor; equally comfortable in any mask, any clothing, and most importantly, any role. This is not a group of teens trying to please everyone with the lowest common denominator, rather these individuals are deliberatively using everything but the kitchen sink to make something completely new. For me, �Smooth Transitions� is fueled by the same amalgam of popular culture and off-the-wall antics that something like Family Guy was known for.
Each song is as perfect of a pop gem as were the first Ramones track, Oasis, and Nirvana tracks. Ninja Gun may not be in the common vocabulary as of yer, but just you wait � another few albums that continually maintain the same caliber of quality as �Smooth Transitions� will sell itself to the larger masses of humanity. Out of �hundreds of object passing through (their) periphery (to paraphrase Bright Eyes)�, Ninja Gun have created their own style of their music, something that can truly be called �better than its constituent parts.�
Top Tracks: Jessie, Purification Ritual
Rating: 7.4/10