Atomic Ants

(8.5/10)

It seems as if the Italians got ants in their pants…regarding ATOMIC ANTS is the result a colored melange of metal and rock with an alltime present funky touch. One dash of SOAD on the left, Chili Peppers on the right and in between some Faith No More feeling makes KEEP COOL AND DRY an album that knows how to become a favor and sounds really professional. It is kind of simple but the way of playing convinces anyone. The most important thing is that the songs got the ability to entrain. An important part for this is frontman’s Junior freaky style of singing – that reminds me kind of Serj Tankian from SOAD – very expressive and mutable with the needed sense of humor. And this fact is present in each song of the album.

KEEP COOL AND DRY doesn’t sound like a debut-album. And this smells a lot after many hours in the rehearsal room and touring-sweat. I can imagine that this band, which is located in San Giovanni, kicks really arse live. Maybe regarding this review, we’ll be able to enjoy the Italians on stage to convince us about this fact. ATOMIC ANTS: a little exotic insider tip. - www.new-core.de

(4/6)

Definitely a nice surprise the debut album from these guys from Bologna, with a feeling of fresh air to relief our painful ears, too many times frustrated from listening to albums coming from foreign countries and acclaimed to be masterpieces, which smell “old” even before you put them in your CD player!
Atomic Ants do not proclaim to be rescuers of the world, but do show to have good ideas, and the right skills to put them in theirs songs.
It happens in their opening song 'Porcupine Lips', 'The Donor & The Receiver' or even 'The Real Sport' that these guys sound similar to Faith No More, who were a great band, and nobody took their place( System of a Down did that in their early days, but eventually ended up somewhere else). Beware, here we’re not talking about a band that is cloning FNM, but we can’t forget that singer Junior’s voice which is so flexible and Mike Patton-like, represents an important reference to draw down Atomic Ants DNA (enriched with Funky and alternative which is never a bad thing). Wonderful songs are then “Fly”, and 'Through The Barricades'from english Spandau Ballet. This Album cannot be unnoticed.
- METAL HAMMER ITALY

(90/100)

Jordy: "Eureka, eureka! I've found it!", the small heavily-smoking Lords of Metal-reviewer yelled, while running through the streets naked, after he found out he had discovered a great band which is capable of making the old Red Hot Chili Peppers sound (from 'Mothers Milk' and 'Blood Sugar Seks Magik') into a lovely wholesome of funkmetal.

That's the way I felt when I had listened to the debut record 'Keep Cool And Dry' of the Italian band Atomic Ants for the first time. This record has got some parts that sound a lot like the Peppers in the days they still made their true 'funkrock' (I still think a lot of those days in which that band still was incredibly unique and funky, without any disrespect to the more poppy and successful way the band has gone over the past years)/ With an awesome funky sound and some great humorous hooks (like the track 'Mariah', which refers to the brand underwear of Mariah Carrey) 'Keep Cool And Dry' strikes you immediately and developes itself into a record that keeps on being interesting time after time again. Besides that, singer Junior has got a voice that matches perfectly with the sound of the band. And Atomic Ants also shows to be a band that's capable of creating great music, even when they don't add a funny twist to it (wich shows itself in quality pieces like the Spandau Ballet-cover 'Through The Barricades' and 'Stars In Their Eyes').

Atomic Ants has created a record that contains a lot of quality, humour and awesome music. A healthy dosis of funk with some awesome metal and rock. Eureka! - www.lordsofmetal.nl

(5/5)

Who doesn’t remember those times when bands like RHCP, Fishbone, Living Colour and many others broke into the scene. Apparently those bands were a source of inspiration for these four italian guys, the ATOMIC ANTS. Their debut album “Keep Cool And Dry” was released on februrary 2006, although it has been recorded last year. “Keep Cool And Dry” is really one of the most interesting album of this year.... The point is that the band was able to mix all its influences in one of the most original and creative proposal. The components are Ghiso (percussions , programming), Figi (bass), Junior (vocals) and Pannok (guitar, programming). It is important to stress that the artwork has been created by the well-known Geoffrey Rousselot (SYL, DEVIN TOWNSEND). The songs sound clearly modern, giving the impression of being in front of an alternative proposal compared with all new bands that try to imitate what the first nu metal bands were able to create. On the contrary, the ATOMIC ANTS well know that the originality is an important factor for having success, or at least for being different from the rest.
For this reason, I advise to listen to “Porcupine Lips”, “Camogli”, “Mariah”, the extraordinary “Cupid” and the funky “Fidji”. Besides, the guys decided to make a cool version of the legendary Spandau Ballet ballad “Throgh the Barricades”.
“Keep Cool And Dry” cannot be missing in your library...... listen to it and draw your conclusion. - www.encrucijada-melodic.com.ar

(7/10)

Atomic Ant's debut album features so called crossover metal, where the spirit of pop, white man's funk, hard core, heavy metal and post-grunge are mixed suprisingly well, although there is some problems in "style slalom".
You can hear Red Hot Chili Peppers, especially in the stretching vocals of vocalist Junior, coming through. Acts like System Of A Down, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle and Alice In Chains pops in to your mind while listening this fish salad. Lots of Pop influences, 80's heavy and these facts are based on Spandau Ballet's cover Through The Barricades, which sits very fine in the consept of this band (if there even exist one).
Lyrics change roughly between serious human-comprehension and absurd humour. The humour of these boys is so hilarious that makes you laugh against your will. For example, fast food criticising Mr.President's chorus: "Reagan Ronald, Reagan Ronald/Would you eat me at McDonalds?" And yes, also Mafia boss John Gotti has had his own song. Also the more serious stuff works, though world won't have huge, opposite that, like the most of the citizens, these Italian boys have great English.
Keep Cool And Dry is breath taking, versatile album, which reguires time from it's listener to get the whole picture. Still, the album is a little bit out-of-the-line though, there is few more "silent" songs lost to the record. But for open-minded rock consumers and for people who are searching for new interesting music, I suggest Atomic Ants warmly. Even if the concept of metal and funk sounds fucking scaring when pressed here, on the paper. - www.imhotep.fi

(7.5/10)

After reading the names of the band and the album you could expect everything.
At the first listening the Metal-Crossover mix with Funky and Nu-Metal influences can leave you astonished. The instrumental and vocal arrangements sound like a modern version of Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Funky touch gives the record a mood that you appreciate more and more.
Let’s talk about the songs “John G.” and “The Donor & the Receiver” because the first track has a Nu-Metal vibe that makes it less interesting to me. These songs, really inspired by RHCP but faster in some drums and guitar parts, reach a really high energy level. The next tracks are not so smashing but still interesting and daring. In fact “Fly” and “Mariah” are smoother and show us the variety that Atomic Ants spread in the whole album even if they are not as solid as the previous ones.
“From Dusk Till Dawn” and “The Real Sport” are more similar to the opening tracks.
The instrumental performance is always awesome and the singer has a nice style though a bit standard in the funkiest moments.
Atomic Ants love to have fun with lyrics like the in strongly Funk “Fidji”.
The album ends with the 80s ballad “Through The Barricades” and the sarcastic “Shitman”.
“Keep Cool And Dry” is an interesting record with some excellent songs and some more standard. The Hard Rock and Funk mix with experimental riffs and the often surprising voice makes the album fresh and buying worthy.
My favourite songs are “John G.”, “The Donor & The Receiver”, “The Real Sport” and “From Dusk Till Dawn”. - www.metaluniverse.net

Who the f..k are these guys??? After seeing their image and cover artwork I thought I would really hate their work if it proves not to be funny. They really look idiotic on the cover, so I expected some sort of funny punk or hardcore music, without many pretentions of being the best in anything. But, hehe, you've expected this "but", Atomic Ants are proving to be one of the best Italian bands in metal scene nowadays, and I'm not talking nonsense here. This one has for sure a very, very bright future ahead and this debut album simply smashes all competition on a European level I would say. The most important feature is without any shadow of a doubt this fantastic vocalist, Junoir, that's for sure the first vocalist ever reviewed by me my words aren't enough to describe. His immagination and astonishing harmonic variety are simply special. Then the guy is sustained by a great, professional instrumental part performed by sillful, talented musicians. The whole is so well thought and worked that it has all the qualities to break through the underground and reach the first league of modern metal fields. This record has it all: a unique vocalist (with the best English American pronounciation I've ever heard from an Italian guy), a great rhythm section and a hard-working guitarist creating a melodic, groovy, funky, emotional, funny, powerful, complex, refined and true music to keep listening and listening. A pleasant and deconnecting album with many, many other features as guest musicians, keys, violins, synths, samples and others I let you discover by yourselves. If you still not convinced to try them please download one of their racks (they gotta have some on the net) and you'll see I'm not talking bolloks. I'm struck by Atomic Ants! To make some parallels this is the best out of Faith No More, Clawfinger and Red Hot Chilli Peppers! - www.tempestwebzine.tk

Throw any preconceptions you have of the "highly respected" genre of Italian metal straight out the window, Atomic Ants aren’t as bad as their name or heritage suggests. Believe it or not, they even come across as early Faith No More at times. The screaming quota is low, the melodic funk quota is high and on occasion Atomic Ants even display a half decent System Of A Down impersonation. As if Atomic Ants weren’t good enough based on that highly respectable portfolio, they can even unleash more than capable Scorpions/Metallica style ballads. One spicy metal meatball indeed.
- www.new-noise.net

(3.5/5)

Italian band Atomic Ants are label mates with Figure of Six but doesn't sound anything at all like their Italian metal brothers. AA's debut "Keep cool and dry" is a funkmetal affair with traces of pop.
Imagine a mix of Faith No More, Papa Roach (early albums) and Red Hot Chili Peppers - slice it up and add a portion grunge into it and we're near the sound of Atomic Ants.
Some moments on the album reminds of Hypnogaja while others pays a visit in System Of A Down land, this band seems to have a large dose of humour if you listen carefully to the arrangements and the lyrics of these songs.
No doubt they are a tight unit that knows how to get things groovy, this type of rock is made for the big festivals coz I believe AA can make any crowd jump like crazy.
What is better than to test my speaker system with the super riffing "Mariah" or singalong to the infectious "John G", I do think their charming cover of Spandau Ballet's 80's hit "Through the barricades" is worth a video and some airtime on MTV!
14 tracks and no actual filler songs in sight, impressive! - www.melodic.net

(4/5)

Atomic Ants, who were founded in 2001, release their debut album "Keep Cool And Dry" after touring their country Italy extensively. But this CD sounds really amazingly sophisticated, not just the sound but also the song structures. Junior's vocals, which sound completely unitalian, have this slight American touch like Matchbox20's singer Rob Thomas does for example and Junior sometimes also sounds like him vocally. Besides that there are diverse songs on this record which rock quite unconventionally which makes it difficult to describe them. There's midtempo songs that are rather emotional, though there are more shredding, rocking uptempo songs which culminate in passages that remind the listener of System Of A Down with their playfulness. On "Fidji" there are partly pure Primus influences perceptible. However, this isn't supposed to mean that the atomic ants just rip off, it's just meant to be a guide through this musical crossover jungle because like I said before, these sounds are difficult to describe and as a whole they have their own and balanced character. Last but not least you'll find a radio suitable ballad called "Through The Barricades" which proves how variable these musicians are. You cannot accuse this band of not being creative because these 14 tracks give pure variety and offer a broad spectrum of modern, not too heavy rock music, provided with the necessary corners and edges so they can be fixed in your ears for a long time.
- www.wallsoffire.de