: ''For the actual machine, see

fog machine A fog machine, fog generator, or smoke machine is a device that emits a dense vapor that appears similar to fog or smoke. This artificial fog is most commonly used in professional entertainment applications, but smaller, more affordable fog mac ...

.'' ''Smoke Machine'' is the second and final album by Chocolate USA. It was released in 1994 on

Bar/None Records Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey. Early history Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Having previously worked in pirate radio, booking and promoting bands in his n ...

. The band, always more a project of Julian Koster, broke up after the release of the album. ''Smoke Machine'' contains some of

Bill Doss Bill Doss (September 12, 1968 – July 30, 2012) was an American rock musician. He co-founded The Elephant 6 Recording Company in Athens, Georgia, and was a key member of the Olivia Tremor Control. Following the band's breakup, he led the Sunshi ...

's earliest recorded performances.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote: "While every melody and song is catchy as hell, and although Kostner's vocals are tender, this is pop music at its most exploratory without aspiring to (yet not sacrificing) accessibility. The whole of it is unselfconscious brilliance." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' also praised it, and wrote that it "retains the determinedly unpretentious vibe of the first album, but the songwriting and arrangements are surer and more fully realized."

Track listing

# USA: Milkiest Theme # Bookbag # My Cherry Bomb # Another Lego In Tha Cross # (Unlisted Track) # The Boy Who Stuck His Head In The Dryer (And Whirl'd Round N' Round) # Intermission # Playing In The Mud # Ugly Girl # Milk (Theme) # Isn't A Lie.../Glow Worm # We Stole The Cow # (Bonus Tracks From Chocolate Monthly Tapes)

Personnel

- "multi instruments" * Julian Koster - vocals, guitar, bass, piano, drums, viola, concertina *Liza Wakeman - violin

References

1994 albums {{1990s-indie-rock-album-stub