Pity Sex
Feast Of Love
Run For Cover Records [2013]
Fire Note Says: Pity Sex makes an instantly familiar but irresistible album with Feast of Love.
Album Review: A band with the name Pity Sex is asking for attention. You may think that the name is a cover-up for inconsequential mediocre music (think LMFAO, or rather, don’t) but that’s simply not the case here. I know very little about Pity Sex because a simple Google search gave me all kinds of results. That was not a rabbit hole I wished to travel down. And wikipedia was no help either. Some additional sleuthing led me to the following information: The band is a four-piece from Ann Arbor, Michigan. They consist of drummer Sean St. Charles, guitarist/vocalist Brennan Greaves, bassist Brandan Pierce, and guitarist/vocalist Britty Drake.
Of the ten tracks on Feast of Love five are led by Greaves’ voice, five by Drake’s. Only one song features an extensive interchange between the two. The album speeds by at 28 minutes – if played on repeat the closing note of the album leads perfectly into the opening note. This is a minor detail but speaks to the importance of album construction. Pity Sex achieves a great balance thanks to the few elements they throw into the mix and the emphasis on album construction. That core element is distortion-heavy guitar rock, with influences from 90s alternative bands like Hum, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr. The change in vocal styles, a slowed-down dance ballad, and other surprises keep the album moving along.
Feast of Love opens with “Wind-Up,” immediately starting with three seconds of reverb. I was hooked then. I was transported back 20 years but was listening to a modern sound. While Greaves is not going to win any vocal competitions his voice is serviceable and most often works as another instrument within the music. This holds true for “Honey Pot” as well. “Drawstring” follows with a unique sound that cleanses the palate for the last two songs of Feast of Love. While these three songs are strong the entire album works well – one songs flows into the next.
So don’t be thrown off by the gimmicky name. Pity Sex is a throwback to 90s alternative rock with a few modern aspects to it. You will have a hard time not starting the album over again once it ends.
Key Tracks: “Wind-Up”, “Honey Pot”, “Drawstring”
Artists With Similar Fire: Dinosaur Jr. / Sonic Youth / Hum
Pity Sex Website
Pity Sex Facebook
Run For Cover Records
-Reviewed by Matthew Heiner
By day I am a dad and a psychologist; I often use music as a way to connect with both my kids and my clients. One of my proudest moments as a father was when my 12-year-old daughter told me of her undying love for Radiohead.
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