You know what I liked when I was in high school? Actually, you can probably guess this one. I liked The Smashing Pumpkins. You probably did too. I know for damn sure the Distortions did.
Their Myspace page lists them as indie/shoegaze/post-punk, but I'm not seeing it. I guess it's possible I don't know what those terms mean, but if I had to describe this music, I'd call it rock/slow. Or maybe Smashing Pumpkins/slow/rock. It really does feel like listening to Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and skipping all the freak-outs. It's not really a negative comment. That album has a bunch of pretty sweet mid-tempo numbers. It even has a couple of nice ballads. But I fucking love me some "Bullet with Butterfly Wings".
The Distortions frontman, F, has a better voice than Billy Corgan. But he has the same infuriating tendency to sing every song identically. The two don't sound the same, but they ACT the same, adopting caricaturish personas instead of just letting it rip. Rather than Corgan's grating whine, F sings in a sort of labored whisper. I picture him hanging on to that microphone stand for all he's worth, pouring his whole being into yet another slow/rock/slow song.
If these guys could mix it up a little bit, they'd be on a much bigger label by now. In fact, they'd probably be on the radio. These are solid songs. The lyrics are sweet natured, the guitars are easy on the ears, and the melodies are downright pretty. In fact, any of the ten - particularly "You Live a Hard Life" - could make its way onto an OC-style soundtrack. To the band's credit, their mellow sound holds enough tension to convince the listener there's a raging chorus approaching at any moment on the album. But that moment never comes. Instead, you get ten decent, thoughtful guitar songs, each of which sounds like the last. I want to break down the individual tracks for you, but I can't even separate them in my head, despite the fact that I've been listening to this thing on repeat for two weeks. I only picked "You Live a Hard Life" as the best because I can actually identify that chorus in my memory. It's on the Myspace page. Check it out - if you like it, you'll love the album. Well, no. You'll like the album, exactly as much as you like the song.
I wish these ten had been cut down to five and then mixed in with five up-tempo cuts. Man, would I love to hear this guy scream. Come on, F. I know it's in you. If you can just cut loose a little, you'll deserve your three-word Myspace genre description and maybe even a Smashing Pumpkins comparison.
