This Microwave World

Okay, I'll admit it, the thing that attracted me to this EP is that title--believe you me, it's one of those top-ten things zinesters want to hear. This Austin five-piece are doing the whole post-punk/new wave thing, and Love Your Zine, Let's Go To Bed, the band's third EP, is a fine collection of grooved-out rock music. From what I've been told, This Microwave World recorded these songs live in the studio with a minimum of overdubs, and it sounds like it. Though they occasionally sound garage-rock (such as the excellent "A Model Life" and "December Was A Sham"), you won't mistake them for the Strokes. When their songs are tempered with synths, there's a definite punk-funk element that some might compare to Gang of Four. ("Fun Fun Fun" sounds like a sedate !!!, if you ask me.) Genre comparisons aside, This Microwave World is simply a fun band. Nothing wrong with that, and there's certainly nothing wrong with Love Your Zine, Go To Band. This young band has a promising future.

--Joseph Kyle
- Mundanesounds.com

This Microwave World's Love Your Zine, Let's Go to Bed is so Williamsburg you can almost smell the East River. Louche, kinetic, and a little frayed, this six-song volley dares you not to dance. "Fun Fun Fun" is nothing but – Prince after a three-day Joy Division bender. - Austin Chronicle

Gang of Four bitter reggae, early Public Image Ltd. bass-as-lead-instrument, Jonathan Richmanish deadpan vocals. Cool, dark and danceable. Except “Alien/Sedition,” which is about the greatest Fall homage I’ve ever heard in my life. - Mark Prindle (markprindle.com) in Citizine

The real Austin post-punk gem of the season is the sophomore EP, Total Information Awareness, by Disco Hospitallers This Microwave World. Bristling at being labeled "electroclash" early on, frontman Sean O'Neal and company spew a prickly discontent in the form of icy-hot grooves and sociopolitical witticisms that are a pinch of PiL, a pinch of the Fall, and absolutely one of the best local releases of the year - Austin Chronicle

It must be a sign o' the times that the New Wave sounds of the Tubeway Army, Soft Cell, and Human League can have such an impact in the heart of Texas. Exhibit A: This Microwave World. Fronted by Sean O'Neal, veteran of Austin electro-mods A Roman Scandal, this coterie of self-styled post-punks features ex-members of local electro-heads Kitty and OMD 20/20. "00:31 to Destruction" kicks off this debut EP in high-energy fashion, and between the chirpy bleeps, high-octane programmed beats, and O'Neal's heavy British affectation, one might think the Prima Donnas have finally made that long-awaited comeback. Difference is, This Microwave World hovers plainly, if slightly, over the line of self-parody. That doesn't keep them from being a hoot, though. Live bass melds with the synths to bring an early New Order edge to the sound and the energy runs rampant on this premiere. Mad style points for Austin's mod squad. - Austin Chronicle