Make no mistake; I am not Zach. I'm Amy, hereafter to be known as "Splashy Ranger." (You know how it is; I want to sound cool.) Let me immediately apologize for this sudden change in plan... you see, I am Zach's dear, dear, special- type friend. Poor Zach is just swamped right now, and I thought I'd help him out a little by writing a review. And so, I am going to talk about Wonderboy Plus, a reissue of the Aluminum Group's self- released 1995 debut, repackaged with the addition of ten bonus tracks.

Walking into an environment in which one hears this album is a bit like being hypnotized at some weird Las Vegas demonstration thing. You begin to do a funny dance, yet you feel nothing. In short, Wonderboy Plus is poppy and sweet, but I don't think that it will make you happy. It will, however, make you feel pleasant-- like you volunteered from the audience and woke up three hours later in your hotel room, confused but still smiling.

I get the feeling that Wonderboy Plus was an attempt campy. Sadly, it falls just short of camp into that creepy space where your friend says something weird and it's funny but you're not sure if laughing is appropriate. Note that it may have been possible to turn the whole album around had the wispily rendered "Sweet Child O' Mine" (uh... yes, the Guns N' Roses song) been replaced by a snuggly, smoochy version of "Welcome to the Jungle."

I don't think that Zach liked Wonderboy Plus so much. Unfortunately, I'll have to concur on this one, though I hate saying bad things about others. (That's not cool! -Ed.) In Zach's opinion, the Aluminum Group sounds like the Association meets... the Association. I, on the other hand, think that it sounds like the Association with a touch of the Association, but with just a smidgen of cha- cha- cha.

This is not, by any means, bad stuff. If you want to buy a gift for someone you don't know very well, look no further. After all, it's clean- cut music made by clean- cut kids who love their mothers. Hey, there's nothing wrong with loving one's mother. Zach loves his mother very much, and Zach's mother loves the Association.

-Splashy Ranger, c/o Zach Hooker