Pedro The Lion - Control

Pedro The Lion's latest album Control came to my attention when Jade Tree Records had a sneak peek of the album available for download. I snagged "Penetration" and "Rapture" from the forthcoming album and gave it an honest listen. What I heard was an unexpected bit of crooning rock. David Bazan's voice is distinct in it's depressive, almost drawl-like, delivery. But instead of acoustic guitars backing him up with subtle instrumentation carrying him along in the background, there was up front guitars, high tempo drums, and even the occasional keyboard thrown in. It appeared that Pedro The Lion wasn't the one-trick pony that I had pegged them (him) for. That is until I got the full-length in the mail. It's not that the songs aren't diverse or good, but they are all quite similar. The two songs that I snagged for download pretty much summed up the album - and since I heard them first they became the highlights of the CD for me. Songs like "Indian Summer" fall into the same category of rocked up songs, lyrics longing for another time, and catchy, yet somewhat droning, choruses. Control doesn't break any new ground musically. It's definetly a new, and welcomed, direction for Mr. Bazan but it easily slips into the background if your attention isn't fully focused. Even the mild vocoder effect on "Progress" can't regain your focus. What does redeem this album are the lyrics, mostly because they are the familiar element from past albums. The comparison of being screwed by a record label and being screwed by a lover has never been executed more successfully. The pain from David Bazan's recent divorce shows itself through his delivery. "Magazine" is a prime example of said singing with 'Oh my god, what have I done..' If you liked Pedro The Lion before, this is worth picking up and adding to your collection. If you've never heard him before, the mp3 downloads are well worth it. If history is doomed to repeat itself, we'll hear more overshadowed slightly dark pop songs from Pedro somewhere down the line. [www.jadetree.com]