Review Summary: Furious Seattle art-punker's debut EP is 12 minutes of chaotic, noisy rock with serious pop sensibilities.
Andrea Zollo would probably kick your ass, or at least damn sure try. The Pretty Girls Make Graves vocalist has always possessed an enormous demeanor almost endlessly at odds with itself to fit inside her small frame. Between commanding the stage -- not to mention the frantic wall of sound behind her, to eventually, the bands musical direction, she is a vicious siren of a front-woman. Even though, as Andrea took more control of Pretty Girls, and band members departed, and the music took a backseat to the egos, leading to the eventual break up, they still made some damn good songs. Lighting a spark with their blend of art-punk that matched technical proficiency with experimentation and lightning riffs with pop sensibility. Almost, like east-coast noise punkers the
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, finding a perfect merge between classic hardcore punk and classic rock with a penchant for no-wave’s musical ideals. Though Zollo and co. had more of a post-hardcore leaning, as opposed to NYC’s boner for classic garage rock, giving them a heavier, almost rougher sound, but nearly as hook-heavy.
The best part about their self-titled EP though is that it’s still the sound of a band in their formative stages, you can hear them testing the waters, dipping their feet into different styles here and there, attempting to find a sound they like. Nice thing is these four tracks essentially are a road map to the music that they would eventually make with their proper debut
Good Health, which makes the EP kind of an efficient and infectious precursor to that albums punky, poppy, screamy goodness. Providing four jagged edged songs that no matter how hard they try, can’t stop the razor sharp riffs and bombastic drumming.
When initially formed in Seattle, Washington in 2001, Andrea and bassist Derek Fudesco would share the vocal load a good portion of the time, giving a certain urgency to each song, juxtaposing his furious yelp with her clinical croon (or ***ing gravel pit growl, whatever), which used to focus many of their vocal melodies. Opener “3 Away” bursts in with Fudesco screaming;
“Too often we sit back and take what, take what life gives us”, Zollo following with a soft, almost whisper of
“Like holding a bad hand of cards”, showcasing right from the get go their talent for balancing the chaotic and serene. “Modern Day Emma Goldman” and “Liquid Courage” follow suit with riff heavy, effect drenched, jaded punk rock backed by a frenzied rhythm section, which also take the time to find moments of beauty. But this is a punk rock band. Closer, “Head South,” gives us Zollo at her utmost furious, spending most of the time delivering the vocals in a earth-shaking growl or exuberant yelp. Lyrics depicting a solid slug to an ex-lover;
“walking away again/seems like i know the back of your head/better than the front”, the song finds little room to breathe, and is that much better for it. That blaring mountain of fuzzy intensity ending the album on a chaotic note, presenting the promise for the full album and ironically, the plague of the bands inner workings. But hey, sometimes so much tension is too much, thankfully its lead them to produce so seriously raucous punk rock.
