PRETTY MARY DIES

The third French post-hardcore album I have reviewed in recent weeks comes close to being the best. But not quite. The only reasons for this not being so, are the annoying 'Unknown Day' sections of this loose concept of naming songs after specific days (over a number of years past, present, and future). Although the French translation does come a cropper with titles such as 'November the Thirtiest'. But, that's just nit-picking. No, the 'Unknown Day' tracks are ambient noise, accompanied by spoken words. They don't add anything to the flow of the album; in fact they disrupt it. Therefore, I would have preferred them to be absent (with the exception of Track 7; that’s just beautiful). The only other slight stumbling block is the near-brickwalled sound. It's not terrible, but there are some chaotic moments that lose their dynamism due to clipping and what not. A shame. However, the sweet, sweet, icing on the cake is the 'proper' songs. Not content to rely solely on hardcoreisms, they fuse delightful melodies (including some lovely acoustic work) onto the macho framework. This appears to be a growing trend with the French, and I hope we see a nice little scene develop out of this. So, if you like post-hardcore to be intelligent and thoughtful, seek out the latest offerings from Maximum Douglas Recordings; certainly a label to keep an ear out for.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Maximum Douglas Records

Album

PUT OUR NAME ON THE WALLS OF YOUR CITY

Review by Steve Cowan

RUNNING TIME:

37:16

RELEASE DATE:

September 2009

TRACK LISTING

1) Unknown Day
2) November the Thirtieth
3) April the Third
4) Unknown Day
5) April the Fourth
6) August the Twentieth
7) Unknown Day
8) October the Fourteenth
9) April the Nineteenth
10) December the Twenty First

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

France

"Not content to rely solely on hardcoreisms, they fuse delightful melodies (including some lovely acoustic work) onto the macho framework."