PopMatters.com, March 2005

"The Corn Syrup Conspiracy"-Review by Mike Schiller

Let's get this straight right off the bat: Nobody will ever be "the new Pink Floyd". Of course, that's not to say bands won't try, or even do a passable job of aping the psychedelic sound that the Floyd made famous. SeepeopleS is one of those bands, and it would seem that all the elements of classic Floyd are present on their latest effort The Corn Syrup Conspiracy. We have long, occasionally excessive guitar soloing, experiments with electronics, and smooth-yet-strained tenor vocals decrying the evils of The Machine. It's exceptionally produced -- better than many major label albums, actually -- and it's packed to the brim at over 70 minutes of music. There are lots of high-profile guest stars, like Tim Reynolds (famous for his work with Dave Matthews) and Dana Colley of Morphine. So what's not to like? For starters, sole SeepeopleS core member Will Bradford could use an editor, as long stretches of slow, noodling ballads make it easy to lose interest, and there's simply not enough engaging material here to maintain a listener's interest. Bradford's use of metaphor is also a bit clunky -- big businessmen are butchers, the workforce consists of dogs, and so on. Lyrical quirks and bloat aside, those looking for a new socially conscious jammy rock album to get high and curse The Man to could certainly do worse than this.

-Mike Schiller