plorentz's Full Review: She Wants Revenge [PA] by She Wants Revenge
Not all phony British accents are created equal. Most phony British accents are adopted by socially inept high school students for Renaissance fairs, chess club meetings, forensics meets and other tawdry amusements. But some folks actually use their phony British accents for career advancement, honing them to something specific, evocative and artistically useful. For instance, there's the phony British punk accent. It's derived from hours of listening to scratchy vinyl records by the Buzzcocks and the Sex Pistols, and has been used most advantageously by Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. It's characterized by a faux-adolescent snottiness; clipped and monosyllabic. Then, of course, there's the Madonna model, perfect for post-yoga class conversation at the juice bar (Project Runway's Andrae Gonzalo is one of my favorite practitioners of this model.)
And finally, there's the gaunt-faced, spikey-haired Gothic fake British accent. I have to admit, this one's my favorite. It's slippery and glassy. Its vibrato is restrained and dramatic, like scenes from a romantic old black-and-white film. It's overenunciated and fairly begs to be accessorized with cinematic hand gestures, and haughty Gloria Swanson eyebrow lifts. It goes great with make-up.
My personal practice of this third type of phony British accent has been cultivated over the years from records by the Human League, John Foxx-era Ultravox, Dead or Alive, The Mission U.K. and Bauhaus. But I've drawn from some second-generation sources as well. Like L.A.'s Kommunity FK, and Chicago's Ministry, who, in 1982, taught me the value of the word "again" - pronounced agayeen (and agayeen and agayeen and agayeen) - on their seminal pre-industrial disco album With Sympathy. There are so many others too. And I love them all. But my most recent crush is on the L.A. duo of Justin Warfield and Adam "12" Bravin, collectively known as She Wants Revenge.
On their self-titled debut record, She Wants Revenge boldly go where anyone who's ever gotten a groove going to "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" has been dying to go ever since. Their lyrics, which reference girls pleasuring themselves with popsicles and such, veer a little into the "naughty" realm, but only naughty enough to make us gasp and then giggle at having gasped. And sure, in their videos, they look a little scary, but it isn't really scary scary, but scary in an acting sort of way. In essence, they've created the perfect soundtrack to a John Hughes movie that exists only in their (and now our) imaginations. Of course, it's got Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson in it. And it has something to do with teenage romance, obsession, class struggle, gymnasium politics, and most of all, the triumphant agony of outsiderness. It's supercampy, it's super-catchy, and whoa, the dude totally sounds like Phil Oakey. Just add ultrageek (that would be the 80s-obsessed listener?) and stir.
But if the album were only its masterfully specific recreation of a certain sound (which I happen to love), it would merely be, well, a lovable imitation. But Warfield and Bravin have actually written songs that are singable and even witty in their own sometimes crude way. "I Don't Want to Fall in Love" takes a fabulous trip on Berlin's "Metro" (the song, not the rail line), and it would be hard to resist the driving, sneering hooks of songs like "These Things" and "Monologue" under any circumstances. But, when the words are punched out on that hollow-sounding drum machine beat, when the lyrics are underlined by jagged, robotic guitar riffs, with synthesizers doing slinky, expressionless dances around the perimeters, you almost get the feeling that you're listening to a classic "lost" record from the turn of the 80s, something some bored shipping clerk stumbled upon in the vaults at Virgin Records.
The record flags a little in its midsection, and after awhile, the uniformity of it all dulls the experience a bit, but after a brief instrumental ("Disconnect"), the album hits a second stride with a beautifully futile waiting-for-Jake-Ryan ballad called "Us" - desolate and echoey and aching with hindsight - culminating with the second single (whose horror-on-prom-night video was directed by award-winning Johnny Cash impersonator Joaquin Phoenix) "Tear You Apart", whose fierce, sexually murderous lyrics (and fierce, Manchurian frontman delivery) are brilliantly undermined by the quaint cheapness of the production. (Imagine Men Without Hats with a mean streak.)
Ultimately, She Wants Revenge is the kind of record that screams guilty pleasure. But I'll tell you a little secret: I love this record. If it had come out twenty years ago, I'd probably be writing fan-mail to Warfield and Bravin right now about how they totally saved my life. And I don't feel the least bit guilty about that.
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BECAUSE YOU NEED TO KNOW:
"She Wants Revenge" by She Wants Revenge
Flawless / Geffen Records
Released 1/31/06
Produced by She Wants Revenge
60 min.
SONGS: Red Flags and Long Nights - These Things - I Don't Want to Fall in Love - Out of Control - Monologue - Broken Promises for Broken Hearts - Sister - Disconnect - Us - Someone Must Get Hurt - Tear You Apart - She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not
Justin Warfield and Adam Bravin (aka DJ Adam 12) met as kids in the San Fernando Valley in 1986. Growing up listening to everything from Run DMC and P...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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