Pains of Being Pure at Heart
(Slumberland)
Everything points back to the mid-1980s here, from the stark, black-and-white cover art, to the fuzz-filled caverns of guitar and bass, to the intoxicating indistinctness of the girl-boy singing. A reverb-heavy haze layers over insinuating, narcotic hooks that pull you in and wrap you in gauze. Sweetness disintegrates from the inside out, riven by a squealing squall, punctured by a pounding bass line, and yet these songs are, above all buoyed by melody. Think Jesus & Mary Chain, not the pop-song-hitting-a-buzz saw of "Upside Down" but the damaged mellifluence of "Just Like Honey."
The NYC foursome's first full-length is nearly a wall-to-wall success, slipping gemlike melodies into "Contender", "Come Saturday," and library-sex song "This Love is Fucking Right." Later in the disc, "Teen Ager In Love" flirts with Spector-esque production, but finishes a hair too clean and precise. (If I say it reminds me of Phil Collins' "You Can't Hurry Love", bear in mind that I am inexplicably fond of that cover.) A strong finish ensues immediately after, in the soaring chorus of "Hey Paul," and the slow, distortion-pounded gloriousness of "Gentle Sons." For those who missed the Creation years the first time around -- or who just miss them now -- this is the good stuff.
Standout Tracks: "Contender", "Come Saturday", "Gentle Sons" JENNIFER KELLY
