Pretty Girls Make Graves ? The New Romance

Chris Ewing

Pretty Girls Make Graves has been dubbed a Seattle “supergroup,” being made up of former members from such illustrious acts as the Murder City Devils, Hookers, Area 51 and the Death Wish Kids. But more importantly, and much more evident, is the way in which this group of musicians interpret the world around them through music. For a generation of punks who have lost all idea of their roots, PGMG’s newest release, The New Romance gels the band’s unique worldview into a lucid, distortion-crusted throwback to a different era.

PGMG’s sophomore release marks their first with the famed independent Matador label, and veteran Matador producer, Phil Ek (Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Les Savy Fav) helps PGMG to fill out their sound. Where their punk inclinations once leaned toward building feedback and incoherent vocals, The New Romance finds the band yielding to subtle instrumentals and a heavy reliance upon organ riffs and simpler, but more affecting lyrical prowess.

On the album’s opener, the driving new wave scorcher “Something Bigger, Something Brighter,” vocalist, Andrea Zollo demands that the listener “make it electric” until her scathing mantra dissolves into a round of handclaps and grinding organ. At times Andrea’s voice almost channels the ferocious monotone of X-Ray Specs’ Poly Styrene, while her instrumental background blends post-punk and pop-rock formula into an elusive rhythmic attack that would make Wire proud.

Songs like “The Grandmother Wolf” and “The Teeth Collector” fuse dissonant guitar and tight percussive tension into song structures that buck the traditional verse-chorus-verse styling. The way the band builds their songs is comparable, but much more accessible, than recent tour-mates The Blood Brothers. But where The Blood Brothers force themselves upon their listeners’ ears without remorse — in turn both plowing through previously established popular music “rules” and alienating less enthusiastic listeners — PGMG relies upon less experimental techniques.

There is no use arguing about the musicians of Pretty Girls Make Graves’ talent, because it is obvious and well beyond most of their contemporaries, but The New Romance‘s most exciting moments are those that contain the promise of a “supergroup” really hitting its stride — like Zeppelin when they released Zoso (or Led Zeppelin 4). Unfortunately, PGMG aren’t there quite yet.

Slower songs like “Blue Lights” and “A Certain Cemetery” lose the force that makes PGMG’s live shows one of the most sought-after tickets around. The studio fades their brilliance by cutting away at their ferocity.

A year ago, on their first hit single “Speakers Push the Air,” Pretty Girls Make Graves asked, “Do you remember what the music meant?” But now, after the release of The New Romance, fans of PGMG can catch a glimpse of the meaning that music can accomplish. The New Romance won’t be remembered as a classic, but hopefully as a band, standing on the threshold of artistic breakthrough.

Grade: B