Pretty Girls Make Graves sports the newest indie trend: a primarily testosterone-driven band who hands over the lead vocals and lyrics to a girl. Its sound strays from other bands with comparable gender match-ups like Rilo Kiley and Tilly and the Wall. On its new album, Élan Vital, the band continues to possess an earnest and ferocious post-punk sound it refuses to drop for any track.
The guitars play catchy hooks, particularly for more upbeat, poppy songs like The Numbers.\ They contribute to a continuous, though not overbearing, undertone of distortion. The band adds diversity to its songs with strings and horns—the song ""Selling the Wind"" even totes an accordion.
The keyboards and piano of the band's newest member, Leona Marrs, brings a great amount innovative diversity to Élan Vital. Such additions create just the right amount of originality and complexity to set Pretty Girls Make Graves apart other post-punk/indie rock bands like Sleater-Kinney and Bikini Kill.
This band seems to straddle that line between indie and punk well enough to create a median from which followers of both genres can enjoy its music. Andrea Zollo's voice is strong, yet it possesses a haunting quality that makes it memorable. Pop-driven dance tracks like ""Parade"" and ""The Magic Hour"" push Zollo's voice to match the energy and volatile nature of their music.
Zollo's lyrics, however, are quite forgettable. Lines like, ""Hot blood red / You've got a hold right through my chest"" and ""You want me crawling on my knees"" are tired and typical. Some of Zollo's words seem to take on a political tone, such as ""The world lost out to the number / Composed of cold, cold machine / Disguised as human being,"" but they are employed in such a cliché way that Zollo doesn't seem to possess any real, distinct opinion.
Luckily, the music easily compensates for this lack of lyrical originality, and the lyrics are not any worse than what most bands come up with. The album takes more than one listen to appreciate, partly because its first track, ""The Nocturnal House,"" is not quite the right song to capture a listener's attention. It has guitar riffs that echo those of The Clash, but a catchier song like ""Domino"" may have been more appropriate.
Initially, it is hard to pick out the musical direction of each song, as each one seems to become another attempt to break out of the band's comfort zone. There can be a lot to take in on each track and this makes it hard for the listener to find something their ear can really latch on to.
More than one listen will, though, will reveal the character and all of the subtle intricacies Pretty Girls Make Graves possesses. The talent of Pretty Girls Make Graves lies in details of Élan Vital and your CD or MP3 player's repeat button.
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