Thank You All Very Much is the solo effort of Bill Cameron, also known as the Winechuggers, also known as Melvoin Stanke, one half of Emperor Penguin. Winechuggers don't produce electronica; the synth for which Cameron is so famous is not the primary ingredient here. The quirky humour, however, you will probably immediately -- and fondly -- recognize, if you are an Emperor Penguin fan.

"Ripped to the Tits", the standout track that I can't get out of my head, has to be the only song I've ever heard make use of that (hilarious) term for drunkenness. If you don't listen to it and immediately find it a useful and stirring anthem for the overpaid, overspoiled, overtrafficked middle class -- "already got my mind made up/ a coffeecup full of whiskey did it for me / I won't be in to work today" -- you are probably too content with your life. Join a Buddhist monastery and leave the rest of us alone. From the first rollicking guitar chord and drunken organ chorus, the listener is grabbed by the ears and hauled along to the happy conclusion. My only quarrel with this song is that it's only two minutes and nineteen seconds long, and that it'll never get played on radio. Also, somebody else already compared this song to the Beatles; that's not very original, but actually it's quite an accurate comparison, which ought to make Bill Cameron's chest puff out like a gibbon's.

"Golden Identity" is almost as good a song; it's low fi meditative, but energetic, with strumming guitar, airy backing vocals (if that tells you more about the mood of the song). I've never heard anyone else make "the last diet cola" sound like such a tragedy waiting to happen. The mood of the album changes from song to song, sometimes humourous and high-spirited and at other times low, seductive and sleepy (as in the loungy, faux-Brazilian sound of "Do We Need Another Day"). This means that Thank You All Very Much will constantly surprise you, making it an excellent (and endless) non-birthday present. By the band's own admission, the music is "life-bummering", but visit any accident scene: as long as it's not them, most people love to watch trouble (or listen to it) from a safe distance. The only bad thing about this disc is that I'm terrified that Cameron will make only a little bit of music as the Winechuggers. I need more!

Thank You All Very Much costs six bucks for six songs; at a dollar a song, that's a pretty good bargain for an EP. And the cover art is just plain cool, too. Make use of a golden opportunity in these recessionary economic times, and buy it.