A Pity Review: Pity Sex's Feast of Love*

*This is in no way reflective of my actual opinions on the album...just trying out different titles.

Pity Sex is an indie rock group from Ann Arbor, MI.  Feast of Love, their debut album, was released in June 2013 on Run For Cover Records, and I recently bought it when it was featured in Soundsupply's tenth drop (it's the second album of ten that I am reviewing, I told you I'd do it!).

It's easy to see why the band lists "shoegaze" on their Bandcamp page.  This album has such a thick, droning sound quality, that resembles bands like Yuck and The Boo Radleys.  In some ways their density is offset by some lead guitar lines that stand out from the muck (again in the best way possible).

The lead line on the first track, "Wind Up" just barely floats over the rest of the instrumentation, and it really gives the song some texture.  Granted, some of the moments I enjoy on the album are--according to Wikipedia and an entry on Allmusic.com--less characteristic of shoegazing music.  The lyrics to songs like "St. John's Wart" or "Honey Pot" are definitely thoughtful, and audible enough to actually understand (unlike some Yuck songs).  On "Wind Up" and "Honey Pot," the two fastest songs on the album, the guitar solos separate themselves very clearly from the rest of the droning haze.

Pity Sex is most interesting when they use their passion for various guitar effects to create tension from moment to moment.  "Sedated," which opens with a very thick, distorted bass line, plays around with different effects to give the song momentum--significantly more momentum than it would have if the effects were constant throughout the song.  At 1:42 the guitar's distortion cuts off for about ten seconds, and it really gives the track some room to breath, and it's tremendously effective.

The effects work better on some songs than on others.  On "Smoke Screen," track four, right when we could use a little change in sound, the guitar's distortion is stripped away, but it's chorus tones get over powered by the distorted bass.  After a catchy riff, the distortion kicks back in, and the parts start to merge into a buzz again.  At the end, there's a nice opportunity to bookend the song, but there is this uncomfortable feedback that doesn't fit well with the opening riff.

This album really isn't bad, and I suspect people with more of a taste for pop punk and punk will enjoy Pity Sex's interpretation of shoegazing.  There are some moments I really love on here, but I do feel the album wears itself out after a bit.  If you are more into this style of indie rock, I think this album is a solid purchase.  I'll say 7/10**, and I hope that comes off how I want it to--seriously though when did "C for satisfactory" become such a bad thing?  You ever feel satisfied?  It's pretty good to be satisfied by something.

As always, if you heard this album, what did you think?  Love it?  Hate it?  If there are any shoegaze fans reading, how did I do?  What albums do you recommend I listen to to get a better picture of the genre?  Who do you think Pity Sex resembles?

Let me know in the comments what you think I should review next.  If you don't, I'll actually have to make a decision--that terrifies me.

**I did not give them a higher rating out of pity, and while I think that goes without saying, I wanted it on record.  Of course by saying this I only create suspicion about my integrity as a "music critic," which--let's really be honest--was never really all that high.  If you still feel the need to list your "title" in quotes, you probably aren't all that confident in your ability to fulfill your role--this has really gotten away from me this time.

Sources:

-http://www.plyrics.com/p/pitysex.html
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoegazing (YUP: It happened again!)
-http://www.allmusic.com/style/shoegaze-ma0000004454 (Didn't know this was a thing, and I am so glad it is)

The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Whenever, If Ever

The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die is a group from Connecticut, and their first album is a post-rock influenced version of early to middle 90s emo music.  This band specifically reminds me of Mineral and Sunny Day Real Estate with their vocal stylings--slightly off key vibrato.

While I'm thinking of Mineral, bands don't really use dynamics as much as they could, and Mineral was different in that regard. When I heard The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, I noticed how their songs build--and not just from loud to louder.  I think the swells in their music give each song weight.  "Ultimate Steve" rises from start to finish, and by the end I got chills.  The opening track "Blank #9" uses a quiet cello and percussion to create ambient noise, building tension and making the lone guitar line that much more tense.

The World Is A Beautiful Place separates from Mineral and Sunny Day Real Estate (the two comparisons that are most relevant to me) with their instrumentation and their sense of humor.  The synthesizer is reminiscent of The Get Up Kids or early Motion City Soundtrack, and on the track "Fightboat" (dude, what is a fightboat anyways?) the synth riff layers over the guitar, giving it a quicker, triumphant feeling.  As for humor, all you need to look at is their song titles, "You Will Never Go to Space," "Picture of a Tree That Doesn't Look Okay," and (my personal favorite) "Ultimate Steve."

"Ultimate Steve" isn't a funny song at all when you consider the lyrics: "Eventually, the world’s gonna end. We should stop our grieving."  The title sets a tone though.  This band reminds us that you can be serious without taking yourself too seriously.  For that, I'd call this an 8/10.

That's album #1 from Soundsupp.ly, and so far I don't hate myself.  If you've heard this album, tell me what you thought in the comments.  Don't forget to tell me how I did too?  Was this a helpful review (probably not)?

Let me know in the comments what you think I should review next (though I do have something planned).

Soundsupply Drop 10

Soundsupp.ly is a site that collects 10 albums from various artists and releases them in "drops."  It costs 15 dollars for each drop, they're released every other month, and they're on sale for ten days. Occasionally there will be a bonus EP or album available if you fulfill some extra requirement (most recently you had to post on Twitter or Facebook) about Drop 10. I decided to sell my soul (I actually tweeted something for once) for the free EP so I ended up with ten albums and an EP. This is the first Drop I could "afford" (actually I ordered it without thinking because I'm bad with money) since they featured Matt Pryor's May Day.

But because I bought Drop 10, I am going to listen to and review every album in the collection--even though they aren't all brand new albums. Hopefully this makes me feel slightly better about my impulse buy. At the end, I'll decide whether my purchase, which was frivolous and irresponsible regardless, was "justified."  If it wasn't I'll launch into a downward spiral from buyer's remorse. Here's the list:

• Junior Astronomers, Dead Nostalgia
• Eric & Magill, Night Singers
• Their/They're/There, s/t
• The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Whenever, If Ever
• Eli Mardock, Everything Happens For The First Time
• Cowboy Indian Bear, Live Old, Die Young
• Now, Now, Neighbors: Deluxe
• Pity Sex, Feast Of Love
• Mister Loveless, Grow Up
• Brian Irving, Radiant Things
• La Guerre, The Three

Hopefully you'll hear good things about every one of these albums. Otherwise it looks like regret (followed by depression and self-loathing) and Dear You, Under The Boards and Nothing Feels Good on repeat for a week.  Have a nice day.