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Review: |
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So here's the deal: two guys who have been around
the L.A. music scene forever, and who know their shit, managed
to condense of all the dark gloomy pop of the 80s into one
self-titled album.
I first caught She Wants Revenge a month or so ago on the Dave Letterman show playing Tear You Apart, a tale of young gothic lust about crushes turning into likes and making out and all kinds of after-school drama. The song kicks off like Bela Lugosi's Dead, and then hovers somewhere between With Sympathy-era Ministry and Joy
Division filtered through Interpol. Utterly derivative. Uh yeah, the title of the song, guys? Come on. But that said, once I got past feeling somewhat cheap and dirty just listening to it, I kinda enjoyed it. Or maybe I enjoyed it because I felt cheap and dirty?
The fundamental problem with She Wants Revenge is that you can never quite let yourself go and enjoy the ride because it takes itself soooo seriously. The worst offender is Because of These Things, a blatant Depeche Mode ripoff. The chorus has a line about a girl in the bathroom with a melting popsicle, pleasuring herself (with the popsicle, apparently?). This is delivered with such utter seriousness that it makes you giggle uncomfortably.
But lest I make listening to She Wants Revenge sound like a chore, it's absolutely
good fun and I recommend it highly for 80s new wave fanatics. At the very least,
you can also play the She Wants Revenge home game. You get points for exclaiming, "He
doesn't sound like Ian Curtis at all!" during the bonus round. In the drinking
game version, the entire group has to drink when anyone mentions Interpol.
[Brendan's Note: Urp!]
Anyway, just turn it up, make out with someone in black eyeliner, and enjoy the cheap thrill.
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