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The Extraordinary Contraptions are Atlanta GA's self annointed steampunk band. Since this term is still up for grabs there's no way to say yea or nay to their claim.
Even though the old addage admonishes us for judging something by its cover we should keep in mind that that's what covers are for...
The cover to the self-released "Inappropriate on Purpose" does show the band (at least three quarters of it) doing a fine job of cultivating a "steampunk" look. But if you close your eyes...
If you close your eyes and just listen to the music you get a well played collection of straight ahead rock. The production quality is good, well above a simple demo but could be a bit sharper in bringing out the various instruments as they're featured in each song. Usually this is no problem but it leaves the vocals occasionally sounding buried/muddled.
There's no doubt that these folks a can play. Their stated goal is liberate "steampunk" from the "sequencers and synthesizers" that have "sapped the 'punk' out of steampunk". Well, the album is free from sequencers and synthesizers but there's nothing punk about the rock found on "Inappropriate on Purpose". It's good music and they cover a lot of territory (which makes sense since at least one of them is a time traveler, cheers fellow chrononaut!), from loungey/bluesy to rough-edged indie rock. But if you're looking for music to put the capital P into steamPunk this isn't it.
This album is good and worth listening to but I walk away feeling like The Extraordinary Contraptions are a band in flux... moving ahead but, on this collection, it's unclear where they're moving *to*. If these folks have a clear endgame in mind for steampunk as a distinct genre of rock this CD doesn't elucidate what that genre will entail that differentiates it from any standard rock.
That all being said there's some good songs to be found on here, I enjoyed "Policy of Honesty" the most. If I had my druthers the band would work in more of the tasty piano parts and focus on more of the male/female harmonies which they do quite well.
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The Extraordinary Contraptions:
http://www.myspace.com/theextraordinarycontraptions
It seems they are now joined Gilded Age Records:
http://www.gildedagerecords.com/
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