For years, Pedro The Lion has been one of the most talked about bands in the sad bastard music corner of the indie rock world. David Bazan is still 90% of the band, though he didn’t play every instrument on this release, as he has with some of the previous stuff. Casey Foubert plays keyboard and bass on this release, and also helps David with the recording process as well. When the first track, “Options” kicks in, it’s obvious that this is going to be a bit bumpier ride than the last couple Pedro releases. Each song loosely follows the pattern of “Options”, with heavier guitar work than you’d expect from David and company.
The guitar parts, along with equally heavy drumming make for a much more dense sound than I expected. David’s drumming has improved a lot, in addition to being stylistically more aggressive. Things slow down a bit when “Indian Summer” comes in. The keyboard makes an entrance to the recording in the song’s intro, and again once the first chorus passes. “Indian Summer” also features one of the most biting lyrical lines in a record full of them. In the chorus, he croons “All the experts say you ought to start them young/that way they’ll naturally love the taste of corporate cum”. Though the tone of the entire record is, as always pretty low key and solemn the music is still pretty fast and heavy-handed. It’s a tough balance to pull off, and it’s also one that makes this record stand out. Of all the “depressed guy with guitar and bedhead” acts getting press and selling buttons to kids in turtlenecks, Pedro The Lion is easily one of the best. And Control is the best evidence to date of why.
www.pedrothelion.com
www.jadetree.com
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Review provided by > Stuart Anderson, Editor stuart@thenewscheme.com |
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