After the unprecedented success of I Wrestled a Bear Once's Pick of the Week track 'You know that ain't them dog's real voices', I felt it only right to give the LP a good listen. At first I was seriously underwhelmed, as the whole thing sounded not unlike bog standard generic screamo when genre blurring screamo had been promised. Fear not, with repeated listens the experience takes a turn for the better with genres not exactly blurring, but at least inter-mingling a little.
The now replaced Krysta Cameron's vocals are little short of
incredible. She swings from hardcore screamo to harmonic crooning and
everything in between with an ease that I'm sure even the likes of Lesley
Garrett would struggle with. I particularly enjoyed the odd bit of whispering,
warbling and dueting with her screamo self at points throughout the album.
Apparently leaving to have a baby, she will be seriously missed and Courtney
laPlante needs to be some singer just to paper over the cracks.
Every track is a winner given enough time, but 'Deodorant
Can't Fix Ugly' is the best example of the juxtaposition of harmonies and
shouting, 'You know them Dogs...' is the star turn and 'I'm Gonna Shoot' is my
personal favourite most days for its intense sweet and sour flavour.
All things considered it's possibly the most consistent
album I've listened to this year. It's extremely hard to get bored of these
songs and it's ultimately turned into one of the rarest events on the car
stero: it's a stalwart CD. That's basically means it outstays its welcome and
whatever mood I'm in I can pop it on and it does the job. Maybe I need to check
out the first album before considering any new releases with a new singer.
Definitely recommended though.
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