Androgyny, anyone?
Parenthetical Girls – “The Pornographer” MP3/download
Parenthetical Girls have been an on-again, off-again presence in my life … meaning that I got one of his albums in the mail and listened to it, then never got around to reviewing it. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth my time — quite the contrary. Zac Pennington is quite the competent arranger, singer and player, and his band is tight. The fact that Pennington worked with The Dead Science‘s Jherek Bischoff on upcoming full-length Privelege is but icing, baby … buttercream …
Brand-new single “The Pornographer” is a stark, clanky track that reminds me a lot more of Red Red Meat (circa the kettle-drum-heavy performance I witnessed at the Sub Pop reunion festival) and Lower Dens than the elaborate, concept-album flutter that accompanied the last record (titled Entanglements and definitely worth your time in a completely different way).
I must say the new approach makes more sense to me, personally, as both a listener and critic. Pennington’s voice is less showy this time around, which is a positive development. I have no problem with warbling, overtly emotional vocals — my tolerance for both The Rhythm Of Black Lines and The Mars Volta proves this — but Penn-Penn’s singing is better served this way.
The most exciting happening circa “The Pornographer” is the discovery of just how flexible Pennington seems to be as an arranger. If he can segue from the peacock-strut, technicolor-dream-coat flourishes of Entanglements to the bleak, charcoal-gray horizon of “The Pornographer,” there’s no telling where this fella will rest his dogs next. Maybe he’ll get all synth-y and echo-y like Papercuts; maybe he’ll take up yodeling and emphasize fiddle; maybe he’ll hang upside-down like an alcholic bat and scream about the trippy dots that form as quarts of blood rush to his head.
Maybe he’ll just keep rockin’; in any event it’ll be interesting at the very least. (Side note: I know this is a totally antiquated notion, but I’m still having trouble getting over the fact that in this day and age it’s standard for bands to give us a nice, free taste of what is to come. WHAT A COUNTRY, no? Unearthing so much goodness day-in, day-out [of course I was out of commission yesterday] is so inspiration I think I … I think I’m gonna get teary-eyed, I- … oop, it passed. Later y’all!)
