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The sophomore album from Boca Raton’s The Pretty Faces is a nice collection of catchy, no frills, blissful powerpop that arrives just in time for summer…
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I experienced one of those flashback moments a while back when I received the press kit and sophomor...I experienced one of those flashback moments a while back when I received the press kit and sophomore album from Boca Raton by way of Waterloo, Canada trio known as The Pretty Faces in the mail. Back in my younger days we used to get all kinds of crazy things in press kits from bands. They would include lyrics, bumper stickers, signed letters, 8×11 glossy photographs, and a whole lot more just to help themselves earn some much needed attention. I, for one, couldn’t blame them: the crush of new CDs passing through my office could reach a staggering 125 albums a week, 49 weeks out of the year. Needless to say, it isn’t too hard to get lost in the shuffle just a little bit. Anyway, we used to take those glossies from the bands and albums that we didn’t like and add weird autographs and hang them up for a chuckle. Maybe just a bit heartless on our parts, after all these groups were just trying their earnest best to get their product to the public. But in a high-paced, stressful environment such as that a good laugh was always needed.
The Pretty Faces did not include a glossy photograph with their press kit, but if they had their second album certainly wouldn’t warrant any of those additional embellishments. Consisting of Jeph, Hannah, and Thomas Thorslund (first two married, Tom is Jeph’s brother), the group crafts polished, mildly garage-influenced power pop that for the most part has no frills, no rough patches, and no excess baggage. I spent my entire first listen of this album trying to figure out who they bare resemblance to. For one reason or another I feel as if I’ve heard something close to these ten songs before, but for one reason or another I just couldn’t place it. So I dove into the 2900 cds that make up my personal collection and started to do some digging. And I could rattle off a bevy of groups that minor similarities could be argued for: The Sun, Senor Happy, Nada Surf, Razorlight (TPF’s “Rib” bares a resemblence to Razorlight’s “Vice” in spots), Garrison Starr…but none of them really do the band justice. It’s more suitable to say that the band’s signature sound combines little bits and pieces from each of these, putting them together into a tight, snappy little package.
Tight, poppy song structures, churning full-bodied power chords and tuneful guitar solos, and a nicely thundering and complementary rhythm backbone are the basis around which this set of songs is constructed. The band never strays far from this path, but in all actuality they don’t need to. For as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. The guitar lines of Jeph and Hannah are stacked appropriately on top of each other and the rest of the pieces that comprise the album are well assembled, with no bit sounding awkward or offline. This is particularly present on songs like “Inch by Inch,” “Rib,” and album standout “Right on the Money” which all fit the afore mentioned mold perfectly and never overstay their welcome. Meanwhile, Jeph allows his vocals to soar, but reins them reined in just enough, what I sometimes refer to as the controlled burn effect. While she only gets one crack at it, Hannah turns in a nice performance on “Elephant,” as her smooth, honey-tinged vocals almost makes it easy to overlook the fact that it’s a tune that bemoans being able to remember what you want to forget.
In general, there’s a lot of ache present on this album, from “Inch by Inch” (All this time on my own/I miss my home/there’s a feeling I get/when I watch the jets) to the record’s title track (It’s not the time or the recipe/for stealing hearts, chasing your daydreams/all these people here they call my name/I recognize their voice, but I don’t know their faces anymore) which seems to contradict the peppy bounce that these songs possess. Despite this fact, and even when things slow down a bit in the middle on songs like “Halfway There” and “Yellow Highway Lights” the band never seems to be playing outside their comfort zone. The album closes with it’s most urgent moments in “Pistolera” and “Sinking Ship,” a pair of songs that slip easily and comfortably from the powerpop that is most prevalent on this record down to a sweatier and more energetic rock & roll feel.
I’m sure that there are some listeners that might try to argue that we’ve heard this kind of record before and that it doesn’t merit a significant amount of attention. And while this isn’t the most complex or inventive release you’re bound to hear this year or any year, it’s certainly far from just being a straight regurgitation of sound. Instead, this album represents a solid union of sound, structure, and lyrical content demonstrates what this type of pop can be when it’s done right. If you’re looking for some blissful summertime powerpop, then this is just about as good a choice as any you’re bound to come across this year.
Raw Score: 83.19 / 100
Full Score Songs: 1 —Right On The Money
Final Score: 85.19 / 100
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BEST LOCAL ALBUM
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"Another Sound" by the Pretty Faces
Theprettyfaces.com
A number of the best bands in South Flor..."Another Sound" by the Pretty Faces
Theprettyfaces.com
A number of the best bands in South Florida came out with great albums this year—Stonefox and Truckstop Coffee spring immediately to mind—but we give the nod to the Pretty Faces because the band's neo-new wave sound is hot this second and, as the band's debut album, the disc marks an introduction to the local music scene that other albums, while excellent, do not. Indeed, for a local band to sound this polished in its debut is practically unheard of. The familial trio of brothers Jeph and Thomas Thorslund and Jeph's wife, Hannah, have crafted an album that updates Elvis Costello circa "Get Happy!!" for the 21st century. While it may not change the world, it gave a shot to the arm of the local music scene when it needed it most.
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Review of The Pretty Faces "Another Sound"
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BY J. EDWARD SUMERAU
And there's no treachery
Just a bottle with no ink
So that I won't thi...BY J. EDWARD SUMERAU
And there's no treachery
Just a bottle with no ink
So that I won't think
AUGUSTA, GA - Combining a mixture of garage pop and new wave sounds, The Pretty Faces fly out of Florida with the release of "Another Sound." With a bit of an eclectic spirit reminiscent of acts like Elvis Costello, The Cars and The Strokes, this band offers a stunning glimpse into heartfelt lyrical constructions and a broad range of sound.
Having received growing attention in Florida and at festivals, The Pretty Faces offer this record as a follow up to the well-received sounds of their debut "Lipstick Kiss," which arrived in the summer of 2004. Combining harmonies with rich textured instrumental styles, The Pretty Faces offers more than just a pleasant surface.
Particular highlights can be found in the use of contrasts between quieter sounds and building arrangements like the powerful opening track "Right on the Money," the soft bounce in the vocal of "Sweet Sixteen," and the steady power of the instrumental in "Pistolera."
Furthermore, listeners may take comfort in the haunting images created in lyrical constructions like that of "Elephant" (referenced above) and "Sinking Ship." The combination of mysterious lyrics and strident instrumental reflections creates a sense of promise throughout the record.
Within this framework, listeners find an opportunity to experience a new band growing toward a poignant potential for glory.
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The Pretty Faces, Another Sound
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Boca Raton by way of Waterloo Canada trio The Pretty Faces demonstrate more than just a little affec...Boca Raton by way of Waterloo Canada trio The Pretty Faces demonstrate more than just a little affection for the raucous sounds of 70s garage rock on their second full length—Another Sound . And, despite their gritty guitar lines and lead singer Jeph Thorslund’s coarse at times vocals; it’s a challenge to find anything disagreeable about this family band- Jeph Thorslund (vocals, guitar, bass, husband), Hannah Thorslund (guitar, vocals, wife), Thomas Thorslund (drums, brother). Think about it, you got three good looking, deft musicians from Canada, what’s not to like? Most engaging of all is their ability to dish out straight up hooky pop rock with a grainy hue—we like the dueling guitars and propulsive drums heard on “Sweet Sixteen” and the mellower, Elliott Smith-esque verses of “Yellow Highway Lights” the best. Be there on Friday when this affable trio parties like it’s 1979 for their album release at Propaganda.
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The Pretty Faces CD Release Tonight
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Supporting local music isn’t always as easy as it sounds. It’s tough to wade through the dredge nigh...Supporting local music isn’t always as easy as it sounds. It’s tough to wade through the dredge night after night looking for something worth listening to more than once. It’s even harder to find a unique band with major talent who don’t need gimmicks to bring people to their shows. The Pretty Faces are exactly what local music needs: unique and unpretentious rock and rollers. Although the threesome are true to their name, there’s more to them than style. Tom, Jeph and Hannah Thorslund (Jeph and Hannah married in 07) craft tight, catchy tunes which almost seem out of place in the local music scene. The Pretty Faces have a cleaned-up garage punk/new wave that sounds like Elvis Costello, The Kinks and Elliott Smith had a baby and taught it how to thrash. Today, TPF are releasing their second CD “Another Sound” at South Florida’s coolest new venue, Propaganda. Supporting local music has never been easier.
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Pretty Faces in the Palm Beaches
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From a recent CD release to an upcoming Sunfest appearance, these Canadian retro-rockers are on a ro...From a recent CD release to an upcoming Sunfest appearance, these Canadian retro-rockers are on a roll.
For a band that sounds like it stepped right out of 1981, 2009 has been a very good year for The Pretty Faces. Starting with a gig at the now-defunct City Limits club in Delray, this New-Wave/garage-rock outfit has since been playing at most of the notable live-music venues in Palm Beach County, including Brogue's Irish Pub in Lake Worth and the Respectable Street Cafe in West Palm Beach.
On April 24th, the group released their sophomore release, Another Sound. [Typist Notes: For a review of this album, please visit our blog, The Music Type]. To celebrate the occasion, the band held their first-ever CD release party at Lake Worth's newest live-music venue, Propaganda. "The crowd was amazing," said guitarist/vocalist Hannah Thorslund. "That was so encouraging."
Now the group will be performing at Sunfest, and already the band's inclusion in Florida's largest outdoor music festival has yielded some publicity benefits. On April 5th at 6:00 a.m. the group made their television debut on "Daybreak", a Sunday morning news show on West Palm's CBS affiliate WPEC. "The Sunfest PR girl called the CBS PR girl and recommended three bands," said Hannah. "So she... called me and she's like, 'You know, I don't know if you want to do it, it's a little early...' I'm like, 'I'll come at three in the morning!'"
Even though Sunfest will be the band's large-stage debut, frontman Jeph Thorslund isn't worried about making the transition in their stage show. "[Hannah's] dad gave us some good advice: 'If it's gonna be a really big stage, make sure you guys don't get too spread out. You're gonna lose your energy if you do that.'" But when I asked if he would take advantage of a large stage during his guitar solos, Jeph laughed and said "Probably, yeah."
The Pretty Faces appear on the Coors Light stage at Sunfest on Sunday May 2nd at 12:30 p.m. Please consult sunfest.org or theprettyfaces.com for further information.
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Review: “Another Sound” by The Pretty Faces
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Boca Raton might not seem the likeliest of locales for a garage-rock band, but these Canadian transp...Boca Raton might not seem the likeliest of locales for a garage-rock band, but these Canadian transplants have called South Florida home since 2004, the year of their debut release, Lipstick Kiss. Having already developed a following in Fort Lauderdale, playing at venues such as Alligator Alley, the group has been steadily raising its profile in Palm Beach, with gigs at Brogue’s Irish Pub in Lake Worth and at West Palm’s venerable Respectable Street Cafe.
The album opens with “Right On The Money”, a title that could be described as truth in advertising, since it is one of the gems of this collection. The track starts subtly with Thomas Thorslund playing a four-to-the-bar kick-drum beat for the first few bars, followed by the guitar and vocals of his brother Jeph. (Reminiscent of early Beatle recordings, the guitar is panned toward one speaker and the vocals towards the other.)
The arrangement builds up steadily, with the bassline making its debut during the chorus, and the guitar of Hannah Thorslund coming in on the second verse. The gradual layering throughout the track is very effective, and the results are nicely contrasted by a quieter passage at the end of the bridge when the insistent bassline drops out for a few bars.
In general, the Pretty Faces sound seems to be a mix of influences both old and new. The steady rhythm guitar of “Pistolera” accompanied by a high-energy drum accompaniment seems reminiscent of The Killers but also harkens to the sound of early-’80s bands such as Cheap Trick and Split Enz. Similarly, the track “Rib” exhibits the musical influence of newer garage-rock bands such as The Strokes, but the sharp wit and clever wordplay of its lyrics (”Hold your tongue and stop the clamour/Don’t correct my English grammar”) owe a huge debt to New Wave pioneer Elvis Costello.
Costello’s influence is also evident in Jeph’s vocal for “Sweet Sixteen”, even down to the slight wobbles in its opening lines. The track seems arranged to showcase the band firing on all cylinders, with the vocal starting almost immediately and the instruments quickly building up to a full-on attack. The Costello influence is even stronger on the follow-on track, with Jeph sneering his way through the vocal for “Inch By Inch”.
The following track, “Elephant” is Hannah’s sole songwriting contribution (and lead vocal), but the composition and performance makes an exceedingly strong case that more of her work should appear on future albums. From its catchy guitar intro to a vocal that starts airy and gradually becomes more powerful, all while floating over a tapestry of power chords, throbbing bassline and explosive cymbal crashes, this track is, simply put, one of the best of this collection. Even its lyrics are clever (the chorus reads: “And I try to push that black behind/But I have been cursed with an elephant’s mind”). Like the perfect dinner guest, the song departs long before the listener grows tired of it, a quality exhibited by this album as a whole.
Coming after that, the midtempo rocker “Halfway There” clearly had a tough act to follow. And while the track develops nicely, becoming more appealing with each new verse, it seems somewhat victimized by the album’s track sequencing. Perhaps it would have been better served by appearing earlier in the running order; its position could have been better occupied by the title track, a song that gets right down to the business of giving as good as it gets. Similarly, while the acoustic ballad “Yellow Highway Lights” serves as the biggest departure sound-wise for the album, the track with a nod to the softer side of Crowded House seems to be held back by a rhythm track that perhaps needed to be brighter or more prominent in the mix.
The closing track “Sinking Ship” starts with a pulsing bassline that is, to borrow the parlance of the Beatles-era Liverpool music scene, “mean, moody and magnificent”. This is the perfect track to which to stomp around the dance floor, and a wonderful way to end a dynamic, fun album.
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LAST WEEKEND: THE PRETTY FACES CD RELEASE SHOW AT PROPAGANDA
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Last Friday night, Sentinel writer Sean Piccoli and I, and a bunch of handsome giants, contorted our...Last Friday night, Sentinel writer Sean Piccoli and I, and a bunch of handsome giants, contorted our torsos and limbs into a car and went to watch The Pretty Faces CD release party show at Propaganda.
The 40-mile drive from Fort Lauderdale to Lake Worth took a long time, and, on account of that, we missed Stonefox’s opening set, which was a major bummer. We did arrive in time for the main performance, a nice long set that The Pretty Faces played in support of its second album, Another Sound. There were a lot of local rock stars standing around with delicious scowls on their faces.
The Pretty Faces looked its usual slim and trim self, which made me think about how easy it would be to fit into a car with them for a long drive, and they immediately proceeded to rock, well pop, us the hell out. My favorite part about the show was that the band played a nice, long set; The Pretty Faces played for at least an hour. The songs on Another Sound are poppy, catchy headbobbing fare, and the covers — many folks expressed surprise that the band played covers at all during its CD release party — were very light, danceable tunes like Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl” (which is quite a humorous song choice for a band with husband-wife members, especially when the wife is universally acknowledged to be a hottie) and a song by The Cars. I can’t remember which one it was.
The Pretty Faces drew a pretty good crowd that night, and had remarkable support from members of other local bands, including, of course, Stonefox (which opened for them), members of The Freakin’ Hott, TIMB, Brent Indeed, and The Postmarks.
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SunFest Diary Sunday, 3:40 p.m. All the Pretty Faces
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I can’t see every band that plays SunFest, because I haven’t mastered the space-time continuum, nor ...I can’t see every band that plays SunFest, because I haven’t mastered the space-time continuum, nor do I have a jet pack hidden in my Easy Spirits. But I made sure that I walked down to the Coors Lite stage in Nebraska to see The Pretty Faces, a family band of tragically gorgeous musicians with an English New Wave vibe that still maintains a modern sensibility. Songs like “English Rose” crunch and pop like sonic fireworks, and I defy anyone to mock a band who can make “Jessie’s Girl” sound fresh.
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Concert Review: Sunfest 2009, Part II — The Pretty Faces
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The Music Type
The official Type M for Music blog
Concert Review: Sunfest 2009, Part II — The Pr...The Music Type
The official Type M for Music blog
Concert Review: Sunfest 2009, Part II — The Pretty Faces
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The Pretty Faces at Sunfest: (l-r) Phil Dunne (bass), Tom Thorslund (drums/vocal), Jeph Thorslund (guitar/vocals), Hannah Thorslund (guitar/vocals)
The Pretty Faces at Sunfest: (l-r) Phil Dunne (bass), Tom Thorslund (drums/vocal), Jeph Thorslund (guitar/vocals), Hannah Thorslund (guitar/vocals)
[Typist Notes: Here's where we jump ahead to the final day of Sunfest in order to showcase some local artists with significant gigs this weekend. First up in the out-of-order sequence, The Pretty Faces from Boca Raton; they open for Boston band Pretty & Nice at Propaganda in Lake Worth, Friday May 8th at 9:00]
Day 5, Sun. May 3rd – The Pretty Faces: The New Wave garage-rockers were the first to perform on this stage that day, which apparently led to their enduring a longer-than-normal set-up/sound-check period, since, despite the advertised 12:30 start time, their set didn’t kick off till 1:00. But whatever nerves band members might have exhibited while hurriedly setting up had evaporated by time frontman Jeph Thorslund stepped forward to the mike to intro the performance. The band immediately launched into tracks from its latest release, Another Sound, including the Costello-esque “Inch By Inch” and ”Rib”. The lengthy sound-check period turns out to have worked in the band’s favour, since in at least one instance the live sound actually bettered the recording. Whereas the kick-drum intro for “Right On The Money” was somewhat low-key on the CD, here it was rendered as a thick, meaty thump.
The band also played tracks from its previous release, 2004’s Lipstick Kiss: “Don’t Let Me Down” and what is fast becoming my favourite of the older songs, “English Rose”. Midway through its set, the group played its only cover, “Jessie’s Girl”, Rick Springfield’s best-known hit. This succeeded in drawing in a few more 0f the early-afternoon festival-goers to hear their performance. The band then reverted to their own material by hammering through the explosive “Sweet Sixteen”.
Before proceeding to perform her composition “Elephant”, Hannah Thoslund gave the Type Writer a pleasant suprise by dedicating the song to him. (The Type Writer assumes that his singling out this song during his CD Review might have had something to do with this.) At the moment, Hannah appears to be more confident about her guitar playing than her lead vocals, as a trace of nerves came through on her vocal here, but these will probably disappear over time if the number of requests shouted for this song at the group’s CD release party are any indication.
Overall, the occasion of The Pretty Faces’ large-stage debut did nothing to unnerve the band, as its performance was as tight as ever. The only pity was that the crowd who witnessed it was not larger, but something tells me that won’t be the case the next time the band plays this festival.
