Amerikong Press Index
Momus Amerikong: Press Cuttings
The New York Times
The San Fransisco Bay Guardian
The Boston Phoenix
The Tucson Weekly
Here's what else the US press said during Amerikong...
"Momus represents America's greatest hope for smart, aesthetic material,
bitten with wit, decorated by originality, and unlike anything you've ever
heard" L.A. Weekly
"Three sellout crowds at Fez last weekend watched the sexually obsessed lounge
singer offer ribald social observations, accompanied by pre-programmed rhythm
tracks and exotic live instruments" New York Post
"Momus conjures up a chaotic carnival atmosphere that vaguely resembles
Jacques Brel as mixed by the Dust Brothers, tapping into suave France, cool
New York, and goofy Japan for inspiration." The Village Voice
"There's something subtly creepy in the seemingly innocent work of
under-appreciated Brit genius Momus." Request
"Momus is clearly the biggest genius in contemporary music." New York
Magazine
"Momus writes songs calculated to disturb, provoke and repulse even as they
attract with clever melodies and tricks of verse... Momus' first US show took
place last year at Fez, and he was quite the showman: The entire room hung
silently on his every word, and he was armed only with an acoustic guitar.
With any luck [those of us who were there] will be able to act blase when he's
really influential a few years from now." Time Out New York
"Momus delights in wordplay like few others in contemporary pop, using wit as
a formidable weapon against the tyranny of everyday banality... Ping Pong is a
marvel of soft-spoken debauchery; the intimate venomousness of the lyrics is
offset by the smooth electropop and even the occasional samba... Let's hear
it for clear-eyed misanthropy and postmodern lust." Rolling
Stone
"The preprogrammed blips and beats of his songs are as articulate as their
lyrics. Momus is not just a sound technician; he is also a misanthropic wit in
the tradition of Evelyn Waugh and Kingsley Amis." The New York Times
"Ah, the perils of being so talented, so accomplished, yet so obscure. Hard as
it's been, Momus has managed over the years to produce enough memorable pop
music to qualify him as the indie world's answer to Elvis Costello... In an
era in which the most aesthetically advanced music is being made without
vocals, Momus makes a strong case for his words to be heard alongside his
music." DC City Paper
"Within the first 15 minutes [of Ping Pong], he sings about killing infants,
pedophilia and carrying out sexual crimes via an alter ego. And you thought
Marilyn Manson was trouble... Score one for the ping pong paddle pervert"
Raygun
"Momus is the ideal postmodernist, a one-man information explosion. A
conversation with Momus, or a song by him, seems to touch on all of culture at
once. In the course of a few minutes, he mentions Jack Smith, Howard Devoto,
Keith Haring, John Kricfalusi, Wong Kar-Wei, Georgina Starr, Nicholson Baker,
and his desire to re-write songs for Celine Dion. ("If I could just change
five words in every song that she sings from here on out, that would make me
really happy. Like, I could change the word 'love' to 'stamp collecting.' It
would be immeasurably more interesting.") The music behind him works the same
way, lifting patterns and textures from all over pop's past and present and
recombining them with bone-dry wit, putting Jacques Brel-ish wordplay to Pet
Shop Boys-like synths and Sugarhill Gang bass lines." The Boston Phoenix
"The self proclaimed "Gentle Deviant" reveals a flair for perverse, scathing
pop commentary, and Momus' fey delivery complements his orchestrated,
carnival-esque synthetic musical foundation... Some of what Momus does can be
written off as kitsch, but it's an intelligent, wordy kitsch that still
manages to amuse and stimulate in a musical climate that's becoming less and
less word-based" Magnet
"Enthusiastically Endorsed" Alternative Press
"Momus is just so maddeningly intelligent and Scottish and cheeky, intent on
showcasing his ultra-dry wit in every sly little song. "Misanthropy is not
liking men, and misogyny is not liking women, but what is the word for not
liking babies?" he wonders in a brief live exchange wedged in before "His
Majesty The Baby," Momus' anti-infant anthem. An audience member shouts out
that hating babies is "normal." But it isn't. What's normal is to smile and
coo and tickle a baby, to say how cute it is and compliment it's parents.
Unless you're an overly droll and loquacious fuck like Momus, in which case
you write lyrics like, "As though a cherub on a fountain / He suckles breasts
as big as mountains / Then pisses freely on the women / Who so lovingly
surround him." New York Press
"Momus may just be as great as (insert name of personal musical love object
here)" Billboard