SSM Music CD

"From their absurd blacklight sci-fi album art to their acronymous band name (ELP, anyone?), (John) Szymanski, (Dave) Shettler and (Keith) Morris are a supergroup thoroughly conscious of their status as such. Everything about this self-titled debut is bigger and more exaggerated than the sum of SSM's parts, right down to epic nine-minute closing jam "The Seer." But what keeps this power trio from descending into bloated self-parody is the ability of each member to take the modi operandi of their more well-established "day jobs," and coax them into exciting new directions. Sure, the Farfisa-driven Nuggets raunch of Szymanski's Hentchmen is all over tracks like "Exit Strategy," "Ain't Love," and "Candy Loving"; but hotwired to Cyril Lords frontman Morris' heavy guitar licks and some double-team percussion courtesy of ex-Sights drummer Shettler and the band's secret weapon, a vintage drum machine, it's a whole new beast - one which threatens to breathe some much-needed new life into that