She Wants Revenge

“She Wants Revenge” (Flawless/Geffen Records)

Compare to: The Killers, Interpol, The Strokes (only much, much worse)

REVIEW: 1.5 / 5

If The Killers and Interpol made dirty backseat love to a circus-mule, I’d imagine it would produce something along the lines of “She Wants Revenge.” It sounds like the singer is a chain smoker with a voice box, reproducing everything that sucked about ’80s music.

Recycled beats, obnoxiously repetitive riffs, and uber-cliche’ chord progressions make this album sound like that crappy feeling in your gut the morning after you’ve pulled an all-nighter.

Single note bass lines and cheap drum sounds are novel for perhaps a song or two, but they are overused to the point of being ludicrous.

Everything feels so precisely calculated that it makes me think that this disk could almost be a very intricate piece of satire, but that’s not enough reason to make anybody want to waste their time listening to it.

The only thing remotely original about this disc are the lyrics. Dark portrayals of explicitly sexual women tend to penetrate most of the songs, although I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

If you are, by chance, a very depressed hippie tripping heavily on multiple drugs, this album might be right up your alley. If not, I would avoid this album at all costs – although it has tempting cover art and a catchy title.

– Dan McClanahan