She Wants Revenge - She Wants Revenge
Don't get me wrong, I was raised on a healthy dose of dark, post punk synth music. I have always wondered whether there was some kind of inside joke about it that I didn't get ... namely were there people with black everything who took it seriously, and did the bands actually take it seriously
She Wants Revenge - She Wants Revenge: C-
It's all here, the repetitive driving synth lines, the melancholy guitar lines that delay and ring out into the electro white noise buzz, the dark topicality of forbidden and questionable human behavior, the vocal guy that sings purposely monotone ... heck, I'm sure everyone has heard albums like this, so let's move on
I think the ironic part about music such as this, or in this genre, is that it's always hard to wrap your arms around it and say, Yes, I love this -- to for lack of better words, embrace it. Like I said, it all seems like a big damn satire to me. If you consider the stronger bands in the genre, or shall we say, the ones that are more commercially successful ... well, they have all the requisite elements, and the "it" factor that distinguishes them from the same sounding mob of poorly executed Gang of Four/Sisters of Mercy/Joy Division imitators.
I guess my basic impression of the album is that I feel like I've heard it all before. Sure, there are some really great singles on it, like "These Things", which I like because it sounds like Violator-era DM; or the big darkly danceable, slick "Out of Control". You know, I don't know if it is that certain songs aren't produced or polished enough but they failed to get my attention.
I think I like this album best when it verges on established sounds that I like, but then I think to myself, I like those other bands and their albums better ... to where, I would pop in their CD necessarily, than listen to SWR ... I guess I feel that way about "Monologue", "Someone Must Get Hurt", and "Tear You Apart", which are good but there's something else in the past I can think of that's better ... then there are moments where they try to put together a hooky song, and it just turns out that they really only mimic well, they can't put together a compelling original sounding song, like "Broken Promises for Broken Hearts".
Well, as we have liked to say over the past year and a half, the old is new again. This album is tolerable as background music ... for say, Hot Topic shopping or your neighborhood body jewelry establishment ... I kid. In all seriousness, it is an okay listen if you like dark synth, however, it won't move you to play it over ... it will move you to grab that Go4, SoM, DM, JoyD, etc. and dust it off
I do recommend "These Things" and "Out of Control", as singles to buy. The album itself is pretty mediocre, and we think about a C-