By: Scott Jeffrey
This is a band that I completely overlooked during my heavy Sufjan Stevans phase. Parenthetical Girls are just pure experimental pop.
Parenthetical girls are originally from Everet Washington. Their catalogue is quite expansive for a group of their notoriety. They even have a few Christmas albums.
With this release experimental should be underlined and highlighted. Songs seem to have a form but then it’s lost and evolved as the track continues. Not to mention the tracks flow, but in a very odd way. Some feel like time capsules, some have a very modern indie pop feel. The mixing is fantastic capturing antique sound in some songs with the technology of today.
Four Words is a track that if it were played through an antique lo-fi speaker would sound like a 1920’s-30’s radio song you might find on Boardwalk Empire. It has an old fashioned quality to it, mixed with a very modern orchestral string sound. It’s a very interesting combination indeed.
Then there are songs like A Song For Ellie Greenwich which sounds like it might as well belong on The Age of Adz. With chimes and a horn it is very reminiscent of Stevens style.
The title track is a classical arrangement only about a minute and a half long. It seems to start off very slow and melancholy and then break into a huge jaunt. If anything it is an ode to a silent movie that wasn’t.
The Former is one of the best songs on the album in my opinion. With a bridge that seems to flow like a conversation, this song is like something from a soundtrack. Starting off and building with deep drums and classical strings, horns and flutes join in later during the bridge and then fade out to a choir at the end. The lyrics are a bit cheeky but also tell a depressing tale. The words flow like poetry not a pop song.
As much as I like a few songs off of this album, this really isn’t something I think I could listen to a lot of. It’s too unpredictable in form, a bit too experimental for me.
6/10
Takeaway thoughts: If you are a fan of Sufjan Stevens or the style in which he plays, give this band a looksee. You will not be disappointed.
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