I saw it again! A glitch in the matrix! A fold in consensus reality! A hole in the music-press net we’re told is impermeable! So, who cut it? Maybe let’s not think about it yet. I just listened to this record by a Boston band called Pretty & Nice that I’d never heard mention of before. It’s called Golden Rules for Golden People. It came out in April. I stumbled on it by chance, and it’s one of the best things I’ve heard all year.
Why has this album not gotten more buzz? It doesn’t make sense to me. Or maybe it really completely does. Pretty & Nice certainly are not 2013-whisper-indie-sexy. Their sound is something like perfected 2000’s garage rock meets avant-pop, but a this-meets-that definitely seems too shallow. The compositions are absolutely all over the place in a math-rock kind of way, but it’s ugly, not discordant; tUnE-yArDs comes to mind not necessarily because they’re a sonic mirror image but because they share that certain aesthetic.
Feel like getting hooked? Go listen to track 7, “Yonkers.” It’s a more conventional number (they’re all structured, but some are more chaotic), but boy is it beautiful, and boy is it energizing, and boy does it make me want to see them live. You’ll notice immediately the unabashed goodness of the vocals. They’re rock-radio friendly. Strike one for coolness, right? As the song progresses, it takes the form of a 4 minute epic. How they bunch so many ideas into so little space so smoothly is beyond me. If these guys aren’t famous in two years, I’ll be picketing. Join me?
YES! ALL OF THIS! Couldn't agree more. Easily my favourite album of 2013.
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