Sometimes it’s not enough to write great music. Sometimes you need something else; a statement, a sound bite, a fistful of anarchy, a remorseless desire to impress, a knack for crossing boundaries and a propensity for stirring the interests of the press with sheer, unapologetic awkwardness. In fact, it’s often what you are by accident that rewards you the most. And then there’s that propulsive belief within critical circles that music must always be new and exciting; that it must somehow subvert tradition at every turn and reshape the very fabric of fashion. Truth is, too many writers mistake music criticism for cultural criticism. Too busy looking for the next Sex Pistols or Nirvana to register along the cultural faultline, they overlook the residual energy and success of artists who have already made their mark. They don’t make the best story, but seldom make the worst din.
If we were to be honest we’d have to say that up till now, only Kim Deal and The Breeders has been able to match or surpass the lofty pop madscapes of The Pixies. Black Francis’s output has been less than consistent and David Lovering has done little more than keep an even keel with his contributions to the band Cracker. Pixie guitarist Joey Santiago may not match The Breeders for crafting edgy thrift-store pop in the manner of alternative classics like ‘Cannoball’ but along with singer and fellow Filipino Linda Mallari, The Martini’s have managed to perfect midly unusual and sinister power-pop.
Pitched somewhere between Gordon Gano/Violent Femmes, P.J Harvey, Veruca Salt, Throwing Muses, and Sleeper, of all people, debut album ‘Smitten’ offers a dozen or so tracks of hugely catchy and bouncey pop paraphanelia that performs more than competently alongside alterna-rock sweethearts like the Foo Fighters and The Distllilers. No surprise here though, as much of the album was produced by Foo Fighter/Distiller production team Brad Cook and Blag Dahalia. And as you’d expect there’s a layer upon layer of tickling flamenco chord-shapes and gritty buzzes and squonks. And on the faintly Pixie-esque, ‘Flyer’ there’s that characteristic churning, burning bass drive also. But although there’s a mass of residual Pixie characteristics courtesy of Joey Santiago, songwriter Mallari brings on board a more robust and well-manicured pop aesthetic to tracks like ‘Right Behind You’, ‘You’re The One’ and ‘Invisible’, which although lacking the devastatingly oddball abrasiveness of little Miss Harvey, are more sinister and double-sided than is immediately evident; the heady, uplifting melodies masking an often beligerent and cynical lyrical slant. ‘New Scene’ cruises and coos like classic Muses and provides the clearest indicator yet that there’s more to femme-rock than gutsy she-males Auf Der Maur, Karen O and Courtney Love. They’ve a few duff tracks, okay, but with the gritty love-reality of Spanish stand-out ‘Wishful Thinking’ to fall back on, it would be churlish to reprimand the two for a momentary laspe of reason.
Some folks might bemoan the sometimes generic indie approach of this record, but when you’ve helped define the limits of that particular genre, you simply have to be excused.