Randy Kotz, WMMR:

"I gotta say I'm renewed!! Lamenting for some time now the glaring absence of good ole feel good pop/rock such as the great stuff of the British Invasion "all those years ago", along comes Fran Smith, Jr. and the TCM. Their CD "Man Meets Machine" is sheer delight! "Leonardo" is a Beatlesque classic.. from the wonderful arrangement, to Fran's lead vocals, to goosebump harmonies, and, oh yeah, the TCM can play, thank you! Another great track, "That's the Way I'll Remember", is a collaboration between Fran and his Hooter bandmates (that "other" band Jr. dabbles with) Robbie Hyman and Eric Bazilian, and it shines. I could go on and on about the songs, but here is simply no "filler" here, so to do so would be wasting valuable listening time!

[Sidenote]: My wife came in as "Rudy" and "Redberry Shangrala" were playing and asked, "is that Paul's [McCartney] new record"? I smiled big, and told her "yeah, sorta, 'cept these songs are a little more engaging than some of "Paul's" recent stuff"!...which in a twisted way, was like spitting in Fran's Holy Water while at the same time annointing him?

On "Man Meets Machine", you'll hear "sonic salutes" to people from Emmit Rhoades to Pete Hamm, Macca to Lothar and the Handpeople, and others that I'm still picking out with repeated listenings. But, make no mistake, this is no "recorded nostalgia tour", but rather "Pure Pop for Now (2005) People"!!

"(Thank you, Nick Lowe) And, thank you, Fran Smith, Jr."

© Fran Smith Jr., 2005. All Rights Reserved.