Pretty Girls Make Graves - 'All Medicated Geniuses' (Matador)
4/5
By: Kevin Molloy
Mad time-signatures and screeching guitars, all hinged on an unshakeable bass-line. What more could you ask from an alt-single? Try the next three minutes (never mind the b-side). In her brusque style, Andrea Zollo is ranting about a town with 'emotional scars'. The song shifts too rapidly from section to section to worry about what she means though. Claiming, 'Our ideas... die so quickly', it seems more a case that Pretty Girls... are positively overflowing with ideas.
B-side 'C-30 C-60 C-90 Go!' also packs a huge punch. With nothing but drums and vocals, and sporadic guitar in the chorus, Zollo proves a huge vocal-versatility, shifting from spoken, brattish, tumbling words to the strangely catchy, melodious titular refrain. Whilst the song adopts a refreshing stance upon the bootlegging of music onto cassettes, the listener is left clueless as to quite what is happening as Zollo blows up a policeman with her 'bazooka'. Never mind - this is a brilliant blend of melody and rhythm. What on earth Pretty Girls... are going on about you may never know. But we certainly agree.
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