"All I want is somethin' beautiful," declares Stepford Five vocalist Keith Jenkins a few minutes into The Art of Self-Defense, the much-hyped sophomore disc from four guys committed to expertly crafted guitar rock ugliness.
Self-Defense is a tightly wound, creatively produced and relentlessly murky-affair. Wrapped in emotive, twin-guitar indie rock, it'll coat your immediate visual world view in thick, murky blacks and grays. Picture yourself trudging through North Campus late, late Saturday night, penniless and freezing, mulling over the day's events: Your girlfriend left you, the Bucks lost by 20, your car's on fire. This record replicates drab, cruddy Ohio weather with astounding clarity.
That's a compliment. The Stepford Five bristles with grungy, discordant rock energy, well represented here by tunes like Pretty Exit and Foot Soldier. All this ain't pretty, but it's got unmistakable drive, and the five-star Workbook Studios production treatment suits it well. Weird guitar effects, random patches of aural weirdness, disembodies backup vocals, cool drum sounds - it's almost too much, to the point where you wonder if Self-Defense would sound very different (and very plain) without all the hoo-hah.
It very well might, but it doesn't have to, and the tunes resonate accordingly. Expectations is a slow-burner that avoids dragging on, thanks to a huge vocal assist from Miranda Sound hootmaster Billy Peake. The Fall is a well-placed bomb in the album's second half - 2:36 of less complex pop sensibility with a melodic outro that hits the bullseye and gets the hell outta there. In fact, Self-Defense works best after the hook's buried and the lyrics dealt with - the set ending Showing Through starts slow but ends on a similar instrumental high.
Neither the structure nor the vocal matter here rates as particularly transcendent - basically the Five are a roughed-up, pissed off hybrid of Goo Goo Dolls-style guitar rock. But this time out, they're very much in their sonic element, and committed to making the most of it. The Art of Self-Defense is quite high art indeed.
The Art of Self-Defense went on sale today exclusively (dude!) at Virgin Megastore in Easton. Buy it there or online at Stepfordfive.com. The band's next show is Friday Nov. 9 at Bernie's.
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