The Best Band to Name Themselves After a Morrissey Song
Written: Oct 08 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: I just can't help but like a band where every member gets to sing.
Cons: Flies in the face of what was once accepted as the PGMG sound.
The Bottom Line: Even if you've never heard of this band I urge you to check out the record.
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| Aram's Full Review: The New Romance by Pretty Girls Make Graves |
Once upon a time there was this band called Pretty Girls Make Graves, and they were the most punk rockinest band on Touch & Go Records. They had a guy AND a girl singer and everyone else would join in on the shouting too. Then, one day the band got signed to Matador and they put out a record called The New Romance. Snotty punk rock kids threw up their middle fingers in unison decrying the once cool band who had "sold out" and "gone MTV" and all the other sh*t that bratty kids like saying, especially before they've even heard the album they're whining about.
As it turns out, after the initial shock of hearing keyboards and actual hooks (hooks!) in a PGMG song I've got to say that The New Romance is one of the best records I've heard this year. In sharp contrast to Good Health which opened with the full-throttle attack of "Speakers Push the Air," The New Romance begins with the slow burn of "Something Bigger, Something Brighter," which right away served as a signal that this was not just a new album, but an entirely new direction for the band.
The brilliantly titled "The Grandmother Wolf" is all churning guitars and earnest shouting, topped off with a the truly sublime refrain of "you aren't the ones who fascinate us." There is a minor stall entitled "Mr. Club" which I can only hope is a joke. Nearly a whole minute of something that sounds like a forgotten relic from one of those mid '90s "Happy Hardcore volume 16" mix CDs. Continuing the tradition of great songs with great titles, "All Medicated Geniuses" showcases Nick Dewitt's wide range talents behind the drumkit. Actually, the whole album is full of interesting rhythmics. A far cry from the standard "dat! dat! dat! dat!" punk drumming, The New Romance is packed with an amazing diversity of meters and tempos.
Another standout song (and there are quite a few here) is the dreamy-then-nightmarish "Blue Lights" which plays with some unusual textures before exploding into a desperate cry for help from an exquisitely tortured muse. Just when it appears that things have peaked, "Chemical, Chemical" bursts onto the scene. It's all about clinically depressed kids and the music is slightly claustrophobic, greatly enhancing the imagery of kids talking to their shadows and being bullied. Yeah it's pretty obvious, but that doesn't mean it can't be good. The brief backmasked ambiance of Track 7 allows just enough time for a breather before the tidal wave of (dammit, how do they think of such good names?!) "The Teeth Collecter" which is simultaneously rough around the edges and instantly catchy. The muted shouting of "No more voices on the radio" resembles AFI a little too much for my taste, but it's nothing that can come close to tainting the rest of the song.
Do I have anything negative to say about the album? Well, at around 40 minutes it definitely leaves the listener wanting more, but that seems like a wise decision, rather than padding it with anything the group might have deemed sub-par. Barring "Mr. Club," every second of every song feels essential and necessary to the whole. "This Is Our Emergency" had to follow "The New Romance." "A Certain Cemetary" in all its spine-tingling glory is the absolute perfect way to close the album. It sounds like Andrea Zollo is singing for me and only me, and that's a feeling I haven't had from an album in some time.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Aram
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Member: Aram
Location: California
Reviews written: 77
Trusted by: 51 members
About Me:
Interests beyond music: world religion, independent film, quantum physics, goth girls, alcohol and shiny objects.
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