Pedro the Lion

By J. Gabriel Boylan
Add Comment Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Apr. 10, 2002

Share this Story:

Pedro the Lion
Control
JADE TREE

Pedro the Lion is the project of David Bazan, and since the re-release of his brilliant first two records, there's been a lot of anticipation for what he'll come up with next. There's nothing frightfully new here in terms of the band's style, but that's not a bad thing necessarily. Bazan's songwriting is still centered on plodding, slightly droney single-note guitar lines sometimes broken by detached howling choruses. Lyrically, the songs are still focused on cutting, brutal narratives of liars, cheats and other no-goodniks. In this case, apart from the more general moral indictments leveled at rotten ordinary people, there's a breadth of topics that ranges from the crush of the individual beneath corporate and global economics ("Penetration," "Progress") to the terror and sadness that can exist between two lovers ("Rapture," "Rehearsal"). What is new is that the songs are more rounded by the rhythm section, and that Bazan hands over songwriting on several songs to bandmate Casey Foubert, and on one to likeminded singer-songwriter T.W. Walsh. Much is made of Bazan's Christian leanings, but his morality is no more forceful than that of the typical rocker who confronts similar issues. If we're going to admit this music fits into the dread "emo" category, it's also worth noting that these songs are more propulsive/pretty and lyrically rich than those of any other band in the category. Few can write a song that's gorgeous, lush and moving, and has the line "Everything is so meaningful and most everything turns to shit rejoice." B+

Add to favoritesAdd to Favorites PrintPrint Send to friendSend to Friend

COMMENTS

ADD COMMENT

Rate:
(HTML and URLs prohibited)
User Guidelines