“Out of Control”
from the album She Wants Revenge
2005
iTunes
She Wants Revenge has devoured the Joy Division catalog and expectorated this self-titled debut album. Which is not a bad thing. Interpol is also mining the same territory, but Interpol sounds nothing like She Wants Revenge. But, Interpol fans will really dig this record. Confused?
While Interpol relies upon subtle melodies that creep up on the listener, She Wants Revenge is more immediate in a slightly gothic sort of way. Pulsing electronic percussion is layered with synth and New Orderesque guitars, while the vocals are dark, melodic, and entirely captivating.
The album begins with “Red Flags and Long Nights.” A never-flinching drum machine accompanies a steady minute of one-note bass and guitar strumming. After you’re just about ready to give up on hearing a chord progression, the instruments finally shift gears and the vocals come in, crisp, clear, and unaffected. The lack of emotion helps create the desired effect of coldness and stark beauty. “These Things” begins with a simple 4/4 melody. Each individual instrument is clearly heard. This chorus is melodically brilliant, as the verse tell us about a woman who’ “in the bathroom…she pleasures herself.” Definitely food for thought. The tempo is kicked up a notch in “I Don’t Want to Fall In Love.” Synths and guitars reach just the right level of intensity. “Out of Control” may be the album’s most obvious single, as its New Order guitar line will be very popular on the dance floor. The lyrics are typical dance material too: “We’re slaves to the DJ and out of control.”
After another foray into dance-oriented pop (“Monologue”), She Wants Revenge hits pay dirt with the pulsing, insistent “Broken Promises for Broken Hearts.” The singing shows just a hint of emotion, which is a welcome switch from the mostly sterile singing of the previous tracks. The guitars are given free reign in “Disconnect,” which sounds like a long-lost outtake from Joy Division’s masterpiece, Unknown Pleasures. It’s not as if She Wants Revenge channels Ian Curtis, but they nail the attitude.
A sorrowful electric piano provides a nice segue (“Disconnect”) before slightly-dissonant synth chords open “Us.” The vocals on this track remind me to go back and play some of my Peter Murphy collection. Next, “Someone Must Get Hurt” picks up the tempo. The guitars chug away in a monotone pattern, and the synths offer brief stabs at melody. At track 11, “Tear You Apart,” I’m beginning to wish the album had some real percussion. The retro drum machine is fine up to a point, but I’m hoping that the band hires a drummer for their next release. She Wants Revenge closes with “She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not,” a complex, romantic track that again stretches the vocalists range (in a good way).
Make no mistake, She Wants Revenge is an album that will demand space in any Joy Division, New Order, Interpol, or Peter Murphy fans collection. The stark, neo-gothic sound might not break any new territory, but the band has chosen the territory they are comfortable with, and the exploit the crap out of it.