THE PASSIVE AGGRESSIVES - review added 4th June 2009
Album Review: Conflict Resolution (2009)
For fans of: Alternative Rock... and boxing bunnies
Listening to The Passive Aggressives is a weird experience. When lead vocalist Keren Gaiser does her thing with little accompaniment it all sounds great. She has a sweet sounding, almost cutesy voice that's innocent and authoritative at the same time. There's a hidden power to her delivery too. It kind of creeps up on occasions and is a genuine surprise.
But, as soon as the band start doing anything else - be it harmonizing, adding effects, using a different singer - it all goes utterly tits up. The chorus of the very first song 'All We've Got is Now' is a prime example. The harmonizing is so totally out of sync they may as well be singing a different track. The voices themselves aren't necessarily terrible, but the timing is.
And then there are the male vocals... which also first appear in the very first song. He sounds like someone strangling a bullfrog in the arse end of a hippo. I can't work out if his vocals are supposed to be a joke or just come across that way. The Passive Aggressives are compared to Heart and Primus. At this rate they sound more like Fart and Primark.
The second track, 'Soundtrack to the Voices in my Head' is a little better. Keren mostly gets on with it, but occasionally the still-awful harmonies and male vocals cut in and spoil things. It's a good track soiled rather than an out and out bad song. 'Violetta' has a mellow aura and sounds excellent more or less from start to finish. The song heavies up toward the end which perhaps it shouldn't have done, but there are fortunately no other voices to savage things.
The Passive Aggressives' version of The Turtles' 'Happy Together' is totally insane but strangely loveable. It's akin to a smelly faded t-shirt with holes in the armpits that you can't stop wearing. It's unutterably terrifying - possibly the worst cover version I've ever heard, but the pain and wincing make it a seminal experience. Trust me, you have to hear this! Don't blame me if it hurts though.
And so it goes on. This album is all about the contrast between Keren's simply excellent vocals and everything else. To be fair, the musicianship on the album is often perfectly agreeable, but the production, mixing and those comedic male vocals are hewn from a rubbish tip somewhere in a swamp. Keren could make it big if she naffed off somewhere else and worked with a team who could maximise her potential. If she stays where she is, unless the band does something drastic, It ain't looking too good for her!
Check out... That god-awful cover of 'Happy Together'.
Track List:
1. All We've Got is Now
2. Soundtrack to the Voices in my Head
3. Violeta
4. Conflict Resolution
5. Happy Together
6. World of Compromise
7. Slice It Away
8. Just Believe
9. Don't Want to Be You
10. One More Look
11. Lulla-Bye Nation
12. Perfect
13. Not Perfect
14. Evil Cloud Song
15. Let's Begin
Artist's websites: The Passive Aggressives , MySpace
