I picture this big sweaty box, bits of metal and flesh fused together, obscure characters scrawled all over it, with jumbles of wires sprouting out every which way. That would be what it would look like -- the box that Magoo pumps all of its music through to make it into the crazy wacked-out formula that they put on the CDs.

Soateramic Sounds asks no questions and tells no lies. A unique combination of chewing-gum psychedelia and the special box, it's pop music that just can't wriggle into its pants. Something is seriously askew. Tracks that begin like a '60s chewing-gum jingle sound like your grandmother singing a nursery rhyme on PCP just three minutes later. Maybe it's got a typical bass beat and quick-tapping hi-hat, but then the vocals are fuzzed out and layered, along with a sadistic continuous stream of guitar lick as in "The Queen of the 8-Bus Singers." Or perhaps it's a twanging bass behind some guy's voice mumbling about something, then a chorus of voices are laid on top, with a guitar paired up with the bass. It's all wholly chaotic, but the commonality is this: Magoo is revelling in the unexpected, and how much you like it must therefore depend on how much you like surprises.

-James P. Wisdom