e_burrell's Full Review: Alter by Pleasure Forever
What the world needs now, is rock sweet rock. It would seem that Sub Pop Records, fabled vanguard of the Underground/Indie Northwest scene, have found a permanent fix, and it’s a sweet one. Pleasure Forever, a trio comprised of well-known San Francisco musicians Andrew Rothbard, Joshua Hughes and David Clifford manage to strike the right chord is just about every tune they hammer out.
Sometimes you’ve just got to shake your head and wonder why some artists get major buzz and airplay and others don’t. In the case of Pleasure Forever, perhaps for now it’s better that way – they are one of those bands that everyone likes to claim they knew well before they ‘Got Big’. Blending a darkly hypnotic pattern of drum beats and distortion with cryptically elusive lyrics and song titles, Pleasure Forever manage to truly amaze and delight with their sheer awesome onslaught of talent and savvy.
From the first track “White Mare” through the nightmarish fifth track of “Wicked Shivering Columbine”, the rock never lets up. As you listen you’re amazed at how many thoughts flitter through your mind. First and foremost, Pleasure Forever are an incredibly tight band. From the get-go you can hear the perfected skinsmanship of drummer David Clifford as he pounds, taps and crashes his way through each tune like a man who has completely lost his mind. The keyboards and guitars of Andrew Rothbard and Joshua Hughes gel perfectly with Clifford’s beats – and they intertwine in a kind of language of their own.
When track six, “Hymn Harmonia” comes to life with pianos and harmonies you know the album has reached a second phase – the urgency is still apparent, but a hushed aura seeps through the music as the album progresses. To say it mellows around the halfway point might be overstating things, but with song titles like “Rider’s Roost”, “Lion’s Den, Chapter 10” and “Axis Exalt” at least be assured things won’t get boring. “Rider’s Roost” is perhaps one of the prettiest tunes on “Alter”, going light to heavy at the blink of an eye – Rothbard’s vocals pleading, chiding and enticing with every line.
These themes continue on throughout the end of the album – rhythm changes, key changes and all. Comparing the group to anyone is extremely difficult – the rhythms in their music are as hodgepodge and free form as some of the Police’s early work (Clifford embodies that vibrant off-kilter presence of a young Stuart Copeland or Jimmy Chamberlain (Smashing Pumpkins). Vocalist Andrew Rothbard incorporates the distorted microphone sound for the maximum gritty effect. This effect (while used sparingly on albums like Beck’s “Odelay”) has been a bit overdone on recent albums with everyone from the Strokes to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club using it to hide their singers’ imperfections and inadequacies. Whether or not Rothbard has any true deficiency is still up for debate – that he can dominate a song and move the listener is not.
“Tempest II” is rollicking fun with its time changes, playful guitars and Bolshevik pianos, and segues very well into the album closer “Gideon & Goliath”, a rolling, whispering affair of the heart. It’s a perfect song to end on – its soaring chorus and anthem guitar solo grasping for heaven – it sounds like something Billy Corgan might have written for The Smashing Pumpkins, but in the end you know it’s not – it’s Pleasure Forever. This is a band that has its own identity – its own soul, its own originality. Cathartic, depressing, uplifting, and euphoric – “Alter” is all these things and more.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.