Monday, June 09, 2008

The Histrioniks - Misery

Finding magical manic music on Monday mornings is my main muse-filled mission to remove misery from the wickedly worrisome work week. The Histrioniks fulfill this sacred search with a narrator who is deeply depressed, sounds depressed, and is aided in her misery by a minor key guitar lick spurring her on and a drummer more than willing to find a depressing beat to back her up. All of which sounds awful on paper, but imagine hearing how bad someone else has it - all of a sudden work sounds wonderfully wild and exciting. The performance is masterful because it’s obviously very difficult to lay down a depression this deep convincingly in a studio. The lyrical depth of the album sounds a lot like the diary of a young woman or a 38 year old alcoholic struggling with finding identity. It's terrifying how addictions can steal both youth and identity. The title tune, Thin, for example, talks about the compulsion that society forces upon women to be Barbie Dolls (“purging my humility for my victory of THIN.”) Shoutouts for Too Black, Dead Again (“I need you to cry my tears”), and Shattered Youth (“my self esteem is cracking”). I’m impressed by both the storyline of the album & the fact that no easy answers are offered. The Histrioniks

More Histrioniks on Eartaste.