|
|
|
Pitty Sing
|
Pitty Sing
Or Music
Release: 1/25/2005
  |
|
Rated:
Review by:
Jason Warner
|
|
|
If I had to use one word to describe Pitty Sing's self-titled
LP, that word would be 'mature.' It's really hard to believe
that this band, all in their early 20's was in diapers when
bands such as Oingo Boingo, Flock of Seagulls, and other
80's super groups were dominating the airwaves. But,
somehow, these lads have managed to channel the spirits of
their elder statesmen and come up with a modern rock
record that brings us back to the sound of the 80's, while at
the same time sounding fresh and new. Most young
musicians in their early 20's (and beyond), are more
concerned with things like angst, hatred, anger, or more
recently evil emo girls, than writing a cohesive and highly
accessible rock and roll album.
Pitty Sing's debut single, "Radio," is a song that will most
likely never see radio play due to its colorful use of the fuck
word. To me this is just a so-so song. Other tracks, such as
"Hanging On Me" or "Bleeding Hearts," are much stronger,
with catchy hooks, creative melodies and excellent
arrangement. The production on this record is very slick,
making it very easy to listen to all facets of the music. The
lyrics tend to be a little obvious at times, but the vocals are
pleasant enough to pretty much overlook this fact. While
there are many potential 'radio songs' here, I prefer to listen
to the album as a chronological unit. I felt like the songs
flowed naturally into each other. The one track that
arguably throws that off is the opener, "Prelude." Yes, I
realize what a prelude is, but it doesn't seem to fit in
musically with the rest of the offerings… symphonic, then
experimental, then fading out… and then suddenly we're
greeted with a straight forward 80's pop album. To me,
"Prelude" was misleading and confusing. Also, lose the
"CTWYL" song title. It stands for "Change The Way You
Love" - see, I told you the lyrics were a little lacking at
times.
While the album definitely sounds like it is from the 80's, it
still sounds modern. I think it's refreshing to hear a band do
something that not everyone is doing right now. Front man,
Paul Holmes, is rather upset that his band is sometimes
compared to Simple Minds or the Smiths. He says the band
did not grow up listening to that music, and while they are
now familiar with those bands, he insists that none directly
influenced or inspired the band's sound. I'll let you decide
for yourself whether Paul is fibbing or not.
Holmes says his band is not striving for a particular sound,
but rather they just write the songs, and they come out
sounding like this. I can relate to that mysterious
happening. Sometimes you write a song that you know
sounds familiar but you don't know why. Maybe that's why
Pitty Sing works for me, because although it is a classic
sound, it doesn't sound old.
Pitty Sing prove with this album that sometimes you have to
return to your roots, even if that means reaching for a time
when you were too into GI Joe and the Smurfs to even
notice that Joy Division or The Cure existed. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
