Dispensing with the intrusive sound samples that marred Sacred Cow (2002), McDaeth wisely refocuses on his abrasive vocals and unhinged acoustic guitar, while pushing his songs ever further into a drumless rock realm. Whereas Tom Waits was an obvious antecedant to earlier works, with Rusted On Through Michael mines deeper, stranger lodes of inspiration like Screaming Jay Hawkins and Hasil Adkins. Wacked tracks like "Shimeleski Fun Time," "Radio Play," "Death By Suicide" and "Think I'll Become A Communist" are exuberant, hard-eyed and fearless, marking a welcome return to form for an always intriguing artist.

Jim Santo - http://www.demouniverse.com/review.php?did=2614

Haunting and powerful
Reviewer: Laura T Lynch of Kweevak.com

McDaeth's songs are whimsical but are often dark observations on life. Michael's music is acoustic based with a punk attitude. The production is stark focusing more on lyrics and subtle unplugged guitar and harp accompaniment. His voice is somewhat raspy but he has a versatile expressive range. Michael's press kit describes his singing as "whiskey and Kool Aid". McDaeth's music is a varied brew of acidic lyrics and sweet acoustic sounds that is hard to describe. The arrangements are free wheeling yet executed with intensity. Rusted on Through is a dichotomy of sights and sounds and Michael's songs are haunting and powerful as they traverse over an acoustic landscape.

It takes something special to pull off the singer/guitarist act, though that rarely discourages the loads of folk singers who turn up at open-mic nights. They could all learn a lesson from Michael McDaeth (sic), who pulls this stripped-down ensemble off with grace, reeling you in with his voice and locking the box with his rambling-yet-intriguing stories. His I-just-ate-a-bag-of-straw croon has all the elegance of a Tom Waits, a Paul Westerberg or a Greg Dulli -- so either he's brilliant or he sounds like shit, depending upon your perspective. The aforementioned comparisons apply not only to McDaeth's zesty croon, but to his ability to pull a melody out of bizarre, if extraordinarily primitive, harmonic progressions. "Shimeleski Fun Time" is basically a barre chord tour up and down the guitar-neck, but McDaeth, attempting a falsetto that's nowhere near on-key, finds sanctuary in its swagger. The hypnotic "On My Way" layers his voice over a simple two-chord vamp, something that would bore you to tears if it weren't for McDaeth's dynamic delivery. In "Death by Suicide", the artist is standing on a ledge, shotgun in hand, note written; he spills his guts that "everyone can be the one / will you be mine forever / hey I think I'm gonna die / death by suicide." Despite his desperation, he sounds sexy as he whispers and screams, pounding his six-string into a woody pulp.
The aesthetic here is demo-like, but I wouldn't change a thing. In the same way that you wouldn't dare add a bass guitar line to "Needle and the Damage Done", fleshing out these songs would detract from their sincerity.
Regardless of what you think about McDaeth's four-track production or ignorance of second takes, his honesty, passion and depth make Rusted on Through 27 minutes you won't soon forget.

-- Dave Madden