23rd April, 2014
The reviews are in and we are thrilled with the response to the re-mastered version of Love Transmitter. Here are some highlights:
Craig Manning writes in Absolute Punk that “You can’t quite tell whether he’s sad, pissed off, wasted, or in a state of perpetually not giving a shit, but that fact, the enigma of Cullen’s delivery throughout this album, makes it a consistently compelling listen”. Ryan Robinson in Listen Hear magazine says, “Professional Entertainers … is the best song I’ve heard in ages. It’s contrasting joyful tones and brutally depressing lyrics keeps me pressing repeat. Perfectly timed at just under three minutes, this is a song that needs to rock the airwaves.”
According to PunkNews.Org, Love Transmitter resonates “with moody melancholia and a strange, dark beauty [and] is a reverb-drenched, atmospheric slice of synth pop that explores both the nature of love, and the nature of love gone wrong.” Meanwhile, Mart Kawaii of flowersinagun blog writes, “Love Transmitter is definitely a must hear – no accident that in 2011 it was named in the top twenty Australian albums by music blog Tomatrax .”
Of course, you can’t please everybody and Michael has never aspired to universal acclamation. Liam Allen in his Freaks of Nurture blog, whilst rating the album 7 out of 10, nonetheless thought that “the experience of listening to this album is like stepping inside the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic in need of his meds!” Thanks Liam – nice turn of phrase!
However, Will Oliver who published his review in Soletron, Hiplanta.com and his own Abysmal Hymns blog asks rhetorically, “Is it any secret that the 80′s were the last great decade of pop music? … teaming up with the Church’s producer Tim Powles, [Michael Cullen] has recaptured the feeling of the great era of music and in doing so made one of the most convincing New Wave revival albums of the year.” Rob Perez writing in The Music Universe says, “It’s refreshing to hear an artist evoking the spirit of the 80’s, 90s, and the 21st century without sounding cheesy. Michael Cullen’s new album, Love Transmitter, is definitely one of [the] best indie albums of the year.”
You can read these and may other reviews in full here. Thanks to all the reviewers for taking the time to listen and to write about Love Transmitter.