The Bridal Shop
In violation 7"
Cloudberry Records
I typically prefer my tweepop with female vocals since I could really care less about yet another dude trying out his best Morrissey impression, but this one breaks the mold by pairing a male and female vocalist on opposite sides with the man coming out far superior. Her pitch and timbre is good enough for this sort of C86 pop revival, but she's constantly pushing ahead of the beat and I simply can't hang at all. The song ("Coming real") isn't all that interesting either, but hey - it is a b-side, so I suppose I can't be that disappointed. As for the main attraction ("Violation"), it sounds like something Jens Lekman might do if he was spaced out on quaaludes with its soaring strings and soft synth tones, all swirling together in a dazed, shoegazey soup. And yes, he does try his best to channel everyone's favorite English fop, but at least it's buried in the mix. I can hang with that.
- Avi Roig
