M.O.T.O. (Paul Caporino, r)

Besides the fact that Paul Caporino (M.O.T.O.) has been making brilliant little power-pop home recordings for more than a couple of decades now, besides the fact that I almost pressed a M.O.T.O. record once (the title of which I'm keeping to myself, since I plan to re-use it again someday), besides the fact that there just aren't enough lyrical references to the Steve Miller Band's lame '80s hit "Abracadabra" in today's music anymore-- it's practically a shame that M.O.T.O. isn't a household word acronym right now.

For one thing, whenever I play Paul's stuff for someone for the first time, they're usually like, "Holy crap, what the fuck is this?!? This is awesome!!" For another thing, M.O.T.O.'s probably the only band that I can say I first heard about through Bill Callahan of Smog (back when he was doing a fanzine called "Willpower"), and lent one of their tapes to Damian Pratt once. If that's not a ticket to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, then someone's counting the ballots wrong, which probably explains why shit like The Police and The Clash are already in there.

If you've never heard M.O.T.O. (aka Masters of the Obvious) before, think of a punked-out Cheap Trick, or try imagining what Spector-era Ramones could've sounded like if the production hadn't made the songs so underpowered. Or, you could kinda just download some of the songs I've posted here, which are from 2005's "Raw Power" CD.


The back cover to "Raw Power"

I'm going to skip over the first two songs, which aren't bad but aren't remarkable (at least by M.O.T.O. standards), and go straight to the Oi!-metal brilliance of "Metal Man". If the double kick drum solo at the end doesn't slay you, then it's not my fault your record collection sucks.



2-4-6-8 Rock 'n' Roll
Gonna Get Drunk Tonight
Metal Man (listen)
Getting It Up For Physics (listen)
Piano Jazz Radio
Primeval (listen)
All-Night Vivarin Jag
Deliver Deliver Deliver (listen)
I Can't Wait'll It's Over (listen)
Flipping You Off With Every Finger Of My Hand (listen)
Meet Me By The Flagpole
Let's Nail It To The Moon
Spent The Night On Me (listen)
Girl Girl Inhale



Home taping is killing the music industry

As a bonus, here's a couple of smash hits, both of which are also on the rockin' M.O.T.O. web site:

It Tastes Just Like A Milkshake (from "Jacuzzi For The Dead") (listen)
The Chicks Can Tell (from "Kill M.O.T.O.") (listen)