South Florida's lawless exotic rental car industry keeps rolling.
In Texas, restitution for victims is nothing but a state-sanctioned sham.
If you thought Seattle couldn't fetishize coffee any more, you haven't been to a "cupping" yet.
Produced by Fugazi singer/guitarist Guy Picciotto and Ryan Hadlock of Bear Creek Studios in Seattle (popularized by Black Heart Procession's powerfully rich, simple sounds) Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons makes greater use of traditional pop music themes. There's much more emphasis upon percussion (especially handclaps), waltz and tango rhythms, analog synthesizers, and bright, clean guitar tones. The album opens with a brief waltzing intro of a flutelike keyboard sound on "Equally Damaged," which suddenly dashes into a chirping, amorphous squall before jumping directly into the syncopated rhythms, smoky keyboards, and helium-voiced whisper of Makino on "In Particular." The simultaneously spooky, seductive, and stomping song shows just how far the band has come since its strong, but two-dimensional, previous album, In an Expression of the Inexpressible.
The strongest hook of "Hated Because of Great Qualities" is Makino's waifish wail, which guides and encourages the stop-and-go blurting guitars over a throbbing backbeat. The chorus splashes in with a wave of pianos, ringing guitars, and chromatic chord shifts as Makino's voice slinks over the top, singing: "I can't understand this at all/ I can't pronounce this at all." Switching into "Loved Despite of Great Faults," the juxtaposed lyrical theme features a stilted waltz drumbeat, twangy guitars, and an eruptive chorus reminiscent of the Turtles classic "So Happy Together." As an ascending countermelody between the clean and ringing guitars builds, Simone sings, "You will move with me/ We will/Stay still/ And words will move around us." Boldly stepping away from its derivatives of indie-rock swirl into a fine combination of cheery synth-pop, electro-jolts, and airy melodies, Blonde Redhead has fully embraced its contradictions.