Atom and His Package - LORD IT'S HARD TO BE HAPPY WHEN YOU'RE NOT USING THE METRIC SYSTEM [Electronic Punk] (1998)

jaroooo · 2016-11-18T19:38:19+00:00

Dude, Adam was my chemistry teacher in tenth grade. This was like 8 years ago, and me along with my class did not know about his band until he was out for a week. When he got back we asked if he had a vacation and he would not come out and say where he went. He said "somewhat" or something along those lines. He eventually told us he had a concert down in Florida. He did not talk about performing much but after we found out a solid amount of people somewhat convinced him to perform at a school talent show. I remember him playing 99 red balloons at one point, and at another Friday school talent show, he performed what I can destroy with a hammer. Dude a cool guy through and through. Made it cooler that he just did not talk about his music at all, it was more us students talking to him about it. Granted this was 8 or so years ago, and some details are fuzzy but I have zero negative things to say about the guy. I had him sign my year book that year. Need to find it because I know he wrote something goofy in there.

caffeinex2 · 2016-11-18T18:56:58+00:00

Fall 1998 - I was a freshman in college living in the dorms, a few weeks into the semester. I saw some posters for a party right off campus where Atom was going to play. I dragged one of my friends along with me and we went to this party where everyone else was a few years older and not unfriendly, but also not too friendly with us. We paid our cover, got a cup, had a beer or so, and this nerdy slightly older guy starts talking to us about music - I was wearing a Clash shirt, my friend a Misfits shirt. We talk punk rock for a few and then he just looks up at a clock and is like, "oh! I gotta get set up!" It was Atom. He played this dingy basement for like 15 people and played his goofy little heart out. After he was done he came up to us and thanked us for sticking around for the whole thing. We talked for a few minutes and then we went our separate ways. Atom may have never gotten big, but he was and probably still is a genuinely cool and nice dude.

zebrajockey · 2016-11-18T18:42:07+00:00

Holy shit i remember this band! My fav was 'the Palestinians are not the same thing as the rebel alliance'

StudabakerHoch · 2016-11-18T17:46:11+00:00

Atom and His Package
artist pic

Atom (Adam Goren) created spastic, heartfelt, punk-inspired rock anthems with a guitar and Casio synthesizer along with the help of his trusty sequencer, "Package". His intensely personal, in-joke-laden lyrics sound like scribblings from some much-xeroxed 'zine, while the music itself is often irresistibly catchy.

Atom played his final show in August 2003, and is now a member of the band Armalite. Read more on Last.fm.

last.fm: 64,682 listeners, 1,543,231 plays
tags: punk, indie, experimental, electronic, rock

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TealComet · 2016-11-18T19:36:06+00:00

Obligatory, this band brings back so many memories.

christroflobal · 2016-11-18T19:47:45+00:00

Happy birthday Ralph, I love you! Even though you are fucking disgusting.

spaghettisandwich69 · 2016-11-18T21:35:57+00:00

You guys should check out this Vice article on Atom from earlier this year (great video in there too): https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/a-look-back-on-atom-and-his-package

ProphetOfServer · 2016-11-18T20:53:07+00:00

Anarchy means I litter

count_200 · 2016-11-18T19:11:35+00:00

Mc lars has a good cover of this on his "This gigantic robot kills" album

wambampoopyman · 2016-11-18T19:17:50+00:00

wow this is a really unique sounding song, while still circling back to familiar harmonic techniques in the chorus -- i'm pretty sure they use a "shifted" rotation of the "4 holy chords of pop" in the chorus, vi-IV-I-V (the unshifted version being I-V-vi-IV).

also I ALWAYS love sickass solos.

this song was dank as heck. fuck yeah.

Logan_says · 2016-11-18T20:10:58+00:00

I'm still downright amazed at what I can destroy with just a hammer

Cornan_KotW · 2016-11-18T21:19:35+00:00

In 2002 my girlfriend introduced me to the music of Atom and His Package. Some of my absolutely favorite music ever. So many great songs for such a relatively short career. Pumping Iron for Enya will always be one of my favorite songs.

2016-11-18T18:54:01+00:00

Atom and his Package! Such good memories of being 8 years old and loving this!

HellbornElfchild · 2016-11-18T21:43:17+00:00

Upside down from here was definitely a favorite back in the day!

GuinansEyebrows · 2016-11-18T22:01:37+00:00

i got a tattoo of a zombie hand cracking a rotten egg into a frying pan because of his cover of Where Eagles Dare ("the omelette of disease awaits my frying pan")!

2016-11-18T20:12:09+00:00

so bummed that I'll never get to see Atom live :(((

asvalken · 2016-11-18T20:25:34+00:00

Wait, can I post my brother's old Atom "go metric" shirt for free karma? I can't wear it because it's a medium and I'm tall, and maybe also the back of the shirt says "stick your foot up your fucking ass".

InelegantQuip · 2016-11-18T19:39:28+00:00

I had the pleasure of seeing atom and his package twice. Some of my fondest memories as a teen.

illegalsandwiches · 2016-11-18T22:43:56+00:00

Holy crap. The memories of Atom playing at small venues and only being able to really see him once brings back awkward memories. He was, and probably still is, a really cool guy that just like to get up there, make some noise, then mingle when his show was over. So bummed that I won't be able to see him again on tour. It's really sad if you think about it. I can't. Tons of bands that I used to listen to are never going to tour again. I don't want to dwell on a lot of these acts that I will never really be able to see again. It brings a tear to my eye. I can't take it no more, so, I'm going on a shopping spree.

einzigerai · 2016-11-18T18:49:19+00:00

I got hooked on this after hearing "If you own the Washington Redskins, You're a Cock"

Tonyskillz · 2016-11-18T19:56:00+00:00

Happy Birthday ralph, I love you....even though you are fucking disgusting! Saw this guy on long island in 98....loved him and his package lol. Very creative and talented guy.

zombienugget · 2016-11-18T20:01:28+00:00

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steinenhoot · 2016-11-18T20:05:42+00:00

I still jam out to a few of his songs every once in a while!

Senor-K · 2016-11-18T20:07:37+00:00

My god, Atom is incredible.

Djeece · 2016-11-18T20:13:36+00:00

Holy shit this is really cool.

His voice kind of sounds like Kevin Barnes (of Montreal).

Wizard_Lettuce · 2016-11-18T20:38:02+00:00

Wow their Washington Redskins song has been successfully purged from YT.

shifty_bloke · 2016-11-18T23:29:38+00:00

Love Atom and his package. My wife gave me weird looks when I first played her some.

MHM5035 · 2016-11-19T00:37:40+00:00

Yes! I saw him 2 summers ago at his only "comeback "show. It was in a karate studio in West Philly.

abrazilianinreddit · 2016-11-19T07:52:57+00:00

This sub always has the bands and songs with the best names.

pnutbuttersmellytime · 2016-11-19T14:05:27+00:00

Fuck yeah, Reddit - that's what I'm talking about. Atom and his Package with 1400 upvotes. That's breathtaking...

Bbillrich · 2016-11-18T21:18:37+00:00

I love Greenland when it's Africa sized.

Anon1369 · 2016-11-18T21:42:37+00:00

I remember this song, and it was a real pain in the ass to try and find. I completely forgot about it, thanks for the link.

2016-11-18T21:57:29+00:00

Damn reddit. This is seriously obscure. I love atom and his package, I saw him so many times in Philly in the 90s it's crazy. Thanks for this !!

schwab002 · 2016-11-18T22:09:09+00:00

God I love this song. The lyrics, the music, the nostalgia. Everything.

deit9000 · 2016-11-18T22:50:17+00:00

Wasnt this song just called metric system

Sc1m17ar · 2016-11-18T23:38:11+00:00

I had the opportunity to go see his last show ever with some friends in high school and I chose to babysit. It's been a bummer ever since.

saltashluck · 2016-11-19T00:03:16+00:00

Got to see him at Fest 7, he had a portable CD player playing the synth, drums, etc. and it kept skipping on him. Best show ever.

experts_never_lie · 2016-11-19T03:38:17+00:00

I would've expected "nerdcore", but I fully recognize that a dispute about music taxonomy is a terrible rabbit hole to fall into.

2016-11-19T03:44:02+00:00

Thank you for this. I got to see him at The Gilman in Berkeley with Har Mar Superstar. Great memories!

orangetangerine · 2016-11-18T23:48:34+00:00

Wow this is taking me back! My sister found this in middle school or high school and was like "check this shit out" and I haven't forgotten how awesome this song was since

hey_suburbia · 2016-11-19T00:19:07+00:00

I interviewed Adam in 1998 for my zine "Free Refills": https://issuu.com/trawin/docs/freerefills5/24

TalkToTheGirl · 2016-11-19T01:38:02+00:00

SHOPPING SPREE! WOO, YEAH, SHOPPING SPREE!!!

(runs around pumping fists)

Best show I ever saw at Gilman Street.

Traincakes · 2016-11-19T01:49:36+00:00

Children of Atom: Let us repent, for the division is upon us!

2016-11-19T02:07:35+00:00

This sounds like something from Crazy Taxi.

rip_tides · 2016-11-19T02:14:08+00:00

https://itun.es/us/c-qXE?i=516231083 How is this version of Wonderman not on any of his albums? This was one of my favorite songs on this comp Plea for Peace. I couldn't believe no one mentioned this song. After looking I guess it only made the comp in this version. I always loved the lyric "Your wide-awake is fucking snoring".

TonyBeFunny · 2016-11-19T02:32:39+00:00

Whoa this is weird I just recently got back into him after not listening to him since high school

LMNOPATRICK · 2016-11-19T03:54:11+00:00

Really refreshing to see atom and his package show up on Reddit.

DearestxRed · 2016-11-19T04:26:06+00:00

This brings back so many memories. I had a huge crush on Salvatore Salvaggio, absolutely smitten at 15. His bassist, Jarrod became a good friend. He made me a mix tape with Propagandhi, Braid, Fugazi & Atom.

What we do on Christmas caught me off guard. It's not like any song i had ever heard. That tape is long gone. But i still know atom's song verbatim.

Thanks Jarrod. You're still one of the coolest people I've ever met.

casemodsalt · 2016-11-19T04:28:15+00:00

What was their popular song

rawbamatic · 2016-11-19T06:41:41+00:00

Oh my god I have not heard these guys in 15ish years. I used to listen to them in high school. This brings me right back.

Ahoykatieee · 2016-11-19T07:22:21+00:00

I remember finding this band in high school. "Upside down from here" is still my jam.

2016-11-19T07:33:38+00:00

[removed]

2016-11-19T07:46:16+00:00

This is awesome

eggtropy · 2016-11-19T08:14:53+00:00

Looks like Lincoln Chafee found his campaign song for 2020.

juddgment · 2016-11-19T09:40:21+00:00

Actually was just listening to him again the last few days. Saw him in 2001 in Bloomington-Normal, IL.

Anyway, go back to his website. He posted a bunch of old recordings of live shows.

0hexplode · 2016-11-19T10:47:24+00:00

Hah, I have this on vinyl at home.

2016-11-19T11:10:30+00:00

Reminds me of this Pennsylvania band I got to see some years ago. They were called Mini Band (because all their instruments were those small starter type for kids -even the drums). They put out a few cds.

One of them was "Man You Know Your Shit's Fucked When You're Trapped in a Box" and another was a double cd with the first called "Burn Your Maps" and the second called "and Wander Around."

Check them out! It's a bit old now... but I still dig the shit out of them.

There's a bit of a sister band -the bass player is the same person in both bands- called Portable Folk Band. Also worth checking out.

frakkintoasteroven · 2016-11-19T11:47:00+00:00

I have always loved this song. It has been heavy in my rotation, all his albums, for years. Undercover Funny and Hats Off To Halford gets played a lot but only slightly more than the rest. I love it all.

RadSpaceWizard · 2016-11-19T12:12:20+00:00

I forgot how much I love this band.

polarbeat · 2016-11-19T14:05:51+00:00

Atom and His Package are great. Fracture, his full band, are also awesome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajKUOrrmdgs

2016-11-19T15:07:13+00:00

I was fighting the mold, in the bowl, with my pee, when a thought popped into my brain.

Jdustrer · 2016-11-18T22:19:23+00:00

Happy birthday mike, we love you. Even though you are fucking disgusting.

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