The Pierces - Thirteen Tales Of Love And Revenge (Lizard King)
2/5
By: Keri Kennedy
The Pierces, aka Catherine and Allison, are a couple of Alabaman, so-good-looking-it-makes-you-sick sisters residing in New York, and seem to be the darlings du jour of the lower Manhattan scene. The girls apparently escaped the clutches of bigwig music execs to create this, an LP that in their own words sounds like 'a fever induced, gypsy dream that you have after drinking too much red wine while listening to a cabaret singer in a southern speakeasy that is run by witches'.
This wordy description could be true of opener 'Secret', a creepy little Tim Burton-esque lullaby which sounds like a traditional Russian folk song with a sinister undertone; "two can keep a secret if one of them is dead." However, the remainder of 'Thirteen Tales' fails to stir any such romantic images.
'Lights On', for one, is horribly over-produced, and if one wasn't any the wiser it could easily be mistaken for Gwen Stefani, the hackneyed chorus "make love with the lights on baby... tell me what you see" will surely make all the boys listening drift into a fantasy world, but for the majority it's just cringe-worthy.
'Turn On Billie', a swingbeat, glockenspiel-infused track, would be a great example of Katie Melua once she had perfected her American accent, while the eastern influenced 'Lies' isn't a million miles away from Shakira. The rampant 'Sticks And Stones' is an improved effort, under the sugar coated melody there's a hint of peril; 'you'll feel scared when we're alone, when I come and suck your blood.' The influence of producer Roger Greenawalt (Adam Green, Ben Kweller) shines through here - there's hints of Green's big band style production but The Pierces don't really come close when it gets down to lyrical quality. While Green's work is a brilliantly executed pastiche all the way, one can't help but think this is what The Pierces aimed for, without success.
'Boring' is simply pedestrian, talking through a list of various indulgences/designers/cities proclaiming they are all boring, over a plodding beat, it's obviously tongue-in-cheek, but falls short itself of being anything but boring.
The Pierces clearly have stunning voices and are fully competent of writing melody-rich and harmonious tunes. However, if 'Thirteen Tales Of Love And Revenge' is the result after they'd gained their artistic freedom, what on earth would have been created if they'd stuck with the mainstream? On the whole, The Pierces are as close to inoffensive radio friendly pop as it's possible to get.
Artists in this article: The Pierces
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