Pretty Girls Make Graves - The New Romance
Matador - 2004 - 39 minutes
It's a rare and treasured band that can frighten on both counts. Not only have they songs that are twisted and dark but they're also such a prospect that the world could be theirs. And now's the time to pledge your allegiance.
Chock full of paranoia and wiry guitars, Pretty Girls Make Graves have a sense of drama all their own and in Andrea Zollo a singer destined to break hearts or mess heads. There are flashes of hardcore fury and edgy new wave but Zollo's performance puts the whole album out on its own.
Devoid of one weak song, the anthem of choice changes with every listen and if you manage to prise yourself away from this record, you'll find yourself haunted by it until you return. Love is indeed in the scare.
Harry Guerin
Tracklisting: Something Bigger, Something Brighter - The Grandmother Wolf - Mr Club - All Medicated Geniuses - Blue Lights - Chemical, Chemical - 7 - The Teeth Collector - Holy Names - The New Romance - This Is Our Emergency - A Certain Cemetery
