Atom and His Package - Hair: Debatable

August 29th, 2003 saw the end of Atom and His Package, as the one man band played his last show. But fortunately, that day also saw the birth of what would come to be known as Hair:Debatable. For those of you unfamiliar with Atom Goren and his package, (that is, his instruments, not genitalia), the goofy punk rock kid has spent the last half a decade or so writing his own humorous, oft-nonsensical, sociopolitical sequencer/guitar based songs. It's nearly impossible to hear any of Atom's songs without at least cracking a smile. "Hats off to Halford," "Undercover Funny," "Pumping Iron for Enya," "Punk Rock Academy," all the hits are here, even a hilarious version of Fugazi's "Waiting Room." And unlike many live recordings, Hair:Debatable comes out sounding as good if not better than any of the studio recordings, complete with onstage chatter, crowd banter and participation and also has the "bonus DVD" that so many albums seem to be including these days. Atom fans will buy this, some people will be annoyed, and new fans will be pissed that they hadn't checked him out before the package's demise. And for those of you who fall into the latter category, this is as close as you'll ever get to the real thing. [www.atomandhispackage.com]