Artist: A Place To Bury Strangers
Album: Exploding Head
Year: 2009
Grade: 3 pretzels
They’re loud as hell and have the best/worst band name since I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness. They are A Place To Bury Strangers and they’ve returned for your eardrums. Like most people, I was first introduced to the band through the heaps of praise Pitchfork lavished upon their debut album, back in 2007. That self-titled album become one of my favorites of the year, since it blended lots of familiar influences in an exciting and volatile way. While the 2000s have been full of Joy Division-aping groups (Interpol, Editors, etc), most paid their homage to Ian Curtis and co. through sparse atmospherics and intoning, baritone voices. Few bands tried to build upon the caged energy found in songs like “Shadowplay”. By the same token, many bands borrowed the wall of distortion from the Jesus & Mary Chain, but few remembered to include the strangely sweet melodies that made JMAC great. A Place To Bury Strangers seem to be one of the few operating bands working within these overlooked parameters.
Fans of APTBS’ first album shouldn’t be too surprised by the content of Exploding Head. Once again, listeners are greeted by a slavering mountain of distorted guitar and screeching feedback, carefully draped over melodies that don’t quite feel happy or sad. They sound monstrously aggressive, but without much anger. It can be quite difficult to find the emotional core in APTBS’ songs and this gives their music some very mysterious qualities. Guitar lines zoom back and forth, drums crash and Oliver Ackermann’s deadpan voice issues flat, emotional-less lyrics that seem vaguely romantic in nature. But what do these songs “mean?” What are they “about?”Hell if I know.
Exploding Head’s biggest failing is that it doesn’t progress APTBS’ sound in any specific direction. While their debut album showed plenty of promise, it hinted at hundreds of different paths the band could follow on future releases. Instead, this new sophomore album follows none of them, choosing to stay in the same chaotically murky waters. “In Your Heart” could fit seamlessly onto their debut album without anybody noticing. In fact, the guitar line from the song’s bridge sounds like something directly taken from their debut’s “Missing You”. Self-plagiarism, guys? C’mon, that’s Nickelback territory.
The album does hit high points when Ackermann leads the band through some more honestly furious numbers. The deadening, crunchy “Deadbeat”, with its drawled refrain of “what the fuck, don’t play with my heart,” finally feels like the lyrics match the musical buzzsaw grinding around it. Meanwhile, “Ego Death” is a humungous, stomping epic that pushes APTBS’ music to colossal new heights, taking the sound of the Jesus & Mary Chain to its furthest extreme. It’s these moments, when A Place To Bury Strangers sound like a real band and not just a commercial for Ackermann’s guitar pedal company, that make listening to their abrasive shitstorm worthwhile. APTBS are band are unstoppable when they hit their stride. If only Exploding Head had a few more of those moments.
Fans of APTBS’ first album shouldn’t be too surprised by the content of Exploding Head. Once again, listeners are greeted by a slavering mountain of distorted guitar and screeching feedback, carefully draped over melodies that don’t quite feel happy or sad. They sound monstrously aggressive, but without much anger. It can be quite difficult to find the emotional core in APTBS’ songs and this gives their music some very mysterious qualities. Guitar lines zoom back and forth, drums crash and Oliver Ackermann’s deadpan voice issues flat, emotional-less lyrics that seem vaguely romantic in nature. But what do these songs “mean?” What are they “about?”Hell if I know.
Exploding Head’s biggest failing is that it doesn’t progress APTBS’ sound in any specific direction. While their debut album showed plenty of promise, it hinted at hundreds of different paths the band could follow on future releases. Instead, this new sophomore album follows none of them, choosing to stay in the same chaotically murky waters. “In Your Heart” could fit seamlessly onto their debut album without anybody noticing. In fact, the guitar line from the song’s bridge sounds like something directly taken from their debut’s “Missing You”. Self-plagiarism, guys? C’mon, that’s Nickelback territory.
The album does hit high points when Ackermann leads the band through some more honestly furious numbers. The deadening, crunchy “Deadbeat”, with its drawled refrain of “what the fuck, don’t play with my heart,” finally feels like the lyrics match the musical buzzsaw grinding around it. Meanwhile, “Ego Death” is a humungous, stomping epic that pushes APTBS’ music to colossal new heights, taking the sound of the Jesus & Mary Chain to its furthest extreme. It’s these moments, when A Place To Bury Strangers sound like a real band and not just a commercial for Ackermann’s guitar pedal company, that make listening to their abrasive shitstorm worthwhile. APTBS are band are unstoppable when they hit their stride. If only Exploding Head had a few more of those moments.
Everyone HAS to admit Nickelback sucks. They give Canadian bands a bad name. I just wished they'd retire.
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