-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal *
ARTIST..: Pity Sex
ALBUM...: White Hot Moon
GENRE...: Indie
STYLE...: Midwest Emo, Shoegaze, Indie Rock, Dream Pop
YEAR....: 2016
LABEL...: Run For Cover
COUNTRY.: USA
PLACE...: Ann Arbor, MI
FORMED..: 2011
ENCODER.: FLAC 1.3.1 -8 -V
BITRATE.: 989 kbps avg
QUALITY.: 44.1kHz / 2 channels
SOURCE..: CD
TRACKS..: 12
SIZE....: 282.12 MB
ACCURACY: Accuraterip YES / CTDB YES
URL..: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hot_Moon
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/pity_sex/white_hot_moon.p
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21794-white-hot-moon
https://post-trash.com/news/2016/5/16/qa-with-pity-sex-feature-interview
- TRACKLIST
1 A Satisfactory World For Reasonable 2:31
People
2 Burden You 3:44
3 Bonhomie 2:59
4 September 4:19
5 What Might Soothe You? 3:06
6 Plum 2:44
7 Nothing Rips Through Me 3:13
8 Orange And Red 3:32
9 Dandelion 2:02
10 White Hot Moon 3:16
11 Pin A Star 2:41
12 Wappen Beggars 5:23
Total Playtime: 39:30
As an Ohioan, I'm not sure if I am allowed to admit that anything good comes
out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. That good thing is Pity Sex. No, this is not a
tawdry tale that is appropriate for mature audiences only. Pity Sex is an
alt-rock band from the area whose first album, Feast of Love, I happen to
adore. I was nervous to give the new LP, White Hot Moon, a listen, for fear
of being disappointed. I was not. Band members Sean St. Charles (drums),
Brennan Greaves (guitar/vocals), Britty Drake (guitar/vocals), and Brandan
Pierce (bass) bring it on this latest release.
Quick summary of what to expect from Pity Sex: heavily distorted guitars,
pounding percussion, and alternating male/female vocals (Greaves and Drake
both sing lead vocals on the album). I like my guitar rock heavy on melody
(like R.E.M. or Foo Fighters) and Pity Sex provide this aplenty. Album opener
"A Satisfactory World For Reasonable People" is a great song to check out if
you want to determine if the band is your thing. Guitar and drums shine,
while both Greaves' and Drake's vocals are delivered in a serviceable
fashion. Lyrics are often hard to make out because of the distortion; if you
like parsing out meaning in lyrics Pity Sex may not be for you.
This style is nothing new for Pity Sex - their debut was full of quality
hooks and melody but short on anything but angsty themes about love and sex.
What's different this time is the better-developed song structure and
occasional lyrical depth. The best example of this is "Plum," which is found
halfway through the album. The production cuts down on the distortion to give
the Drake's vocals the foreground. "Plum" is a song about losing a parent and
pulls off this tricky undertaking with deftness. Neither emotionally
repressed nor maudlin, it is a terrific song with an even better story. It
caught me off-guard because of its tone and realness; it showed me that Pity
Sex is in fact growing as a band.
In spite of the heaviness of "Plum" there's still a lot of fun to have amidst
the emo-ness of White Hot Moon. It's subdued fun that doesn't rely on cheap
theatrics or anthemic choruses to draw you in. I appreciate a band that
doesn't pander and knows their identity; Pity Sex definitely fits that bill.
*
It's been three years since Michigan's Pity Sex released their debut full
length, Feast of Love, and in that time, the band has been touring and
working on their own brand of fuzzed-out, lazy pop. The result of this span
of time together is their second full-length record, White Hot Moon. Though
writing the band off as "another shoegaze band" would be wholly unfair, the
influences of the genre on Pity Sex's sound are unmistakable, and are most
noticeable in the band's thick, fuzzy guitars and lethargic-yet-earnest
vocals. Guitarists Brennan Greaves and Britty Drake trade off on vocal
duties, with Greaves delivering his nonchalant lines, and Drake the album's
stronger vocal melodies and harmonies. Reprising his role as producer on this
album, scene favorite Will Yip has made everything from the hard-hitting
drums to the chimey clean guitars pop in the mix, with two caveats - the bass
can get a little lost in the mass of guitar tracks, and the filter effect on
Greaves' voice becomes wearing to listen to around halfway through the
record.
The pacing of the first five tracks on White Hot Moon almost borders on
monotonous, as the sort of drone of the guitars and similarity in tempo from
song to song can blend together. The upbeat "Bonhomie" starts with a slow,
swirling vocal passage and blossoms into fast power-pop to try and mix up the
first few tracks, though the second half of the album is a little more
stylistically varied. Drake bears all in "Plums," a powerful and beautifully
mournful track about the things that remind us of those we lose, and
continues with a similar guitar-and-vocal style three songs later on
"Dandelions", which features the albums' strongest vocal performances.
"Wappen Beggars," a personal favorite, has a muddy, dissonant guitar line and
one of the White Hot Moon's catchier melodies, and "Pin a Star" features a
killer dueling vocal part. The first single, "What Might Soothe You," is
actually one of the least compelling tracks on the record.
White Hot Moon is a more confident step forward for the band, featuring more
polished production and more focused songwriting. Fans of the not-so-recent
influx of 90s alt-rock/indie-pop inspired bands are sure to dig this album.
*
I recently wrote a paper about the idea of feeling nostalgic when listening
to music. Although it's obvious that songs you have heard before will make
you feel nostalgic, I stumbled across the theory that music you have never
heard before can also make you feel nostalgic. I wholeheartedly believe in
this theory and Pity Sex's newest album, White Hot Moon, only helps justify
it.
For me, fuzzy guitars and melancholic melodies give me a sense of nostalgia.
Pity Sex keeps the distortion and shoegazey vibes at a 10 on this album, much
like their past releases. The near-monotone, laid back style of singing is
still present from both Britty and Brennan while the rest of the band
supplements this with soaring melodies and tight rhythmic sections. However,
the progression is present as both the song-writing abilities and lyrics have
been elevated.
Songs like 'Bonhomie' and 'Wappen Beggars' showcase a newfound sense of
dynamics and flourishing new ideas from the band. 'A Satisfactory World for
Reasonable People' and 'What Might Soothe You?' sound a lot like something
off of Feast of Love with their shorter song lengths and eerily familiar, yet
welcome harmonies and guitar riffs. Most of the album is extremely solid and
consistent, and this would prove to be another great release from Pity Sex
that leaves the listener with something left to be desired if it wasn't for
two songs.
I honestly can't pinpoint what chords or melodies or chord progressions make
me feel nostalgic, but I know for sure there's some sort of pattern. It's a
beautiful thing when the music itself is able to make you feel a whirlwind of
emotions, both new and recognizable ones. Maybe it's just me, as music is
incredibly subjective, but when Brennan and Britty end 'Nothing Rips Through
Me' with their eerie, yet comforting "oohs", I get a wave of intense
nostalgia. The inherent catchiness of the closing melody is captivating and
stunning, as both the guitars and the vocals foreshadow this beautiful
closing to the song.
'Plum' proves to be a standout for similar, but ultimately different reasons.
Within this track, Britty opens up to us about the time soon before her
mother's death, a surprisingly personal confession and a beautiful moment in
the album. For once the band cuts back on the distortion and fuzz, clearing
the air for Britty's poignant yet somber lyrics, "My mother died in mid-June.
And I knew, oh I knew. That day my father died too". The overarching plum
metaphor is incredible as it both portrays the relationship between Britty
and her mother and the subtle feelings of nostalgia in the summer.
As the album ends and the fuzz subsides I can't help but feel an
intoxicated-like state of longing and wistfulness, a bittersweet combination
of yearning for the past because of the pleasant remembrances the past holds.
It's an intoxication I hope I'll always be able to go back to when listening
to music, but it's also an intoxication that can just as easily become a part
of the past, a new addition to my nostalgia.
-=- SHGZ -=-
-=-=-==-=-=-
Shoegaze
is a genre of alternative rock that
originated in the late 80s. The genre is very
difficult to define, and it is even more difficult to evaluate music
within it. Generally, the genre is characterized by its
shimmering vocals, reverberating guitars, and
textural distortion that create
a tranquil, opaque
feeling.
---==--==---