Plain Jane Automobile

http://orlando. metromix. com/music/cd_review/plain-jane-automobile/593438/content
Plain Jane Automobile
Any music lover should add "The Collector" to their collection
by Kalene McCort
Metromix Orlando
September 3, 2008
Critic's Rating:
4 1/2 out of 5
Backstory: While Plain Jane Automobile’s musical roadmap lingers back to Central Florida,
they capture a Limey sound and an across-the-pond vibe that’s undeniably infectious.
Why You Should Care: Their latest EP, The Collector, is a CD any music lover should add to
their collection. While lead singer Duke Crider’s vocals are akin to the gentlemen that front
Coldplay, Radiohead and the Killers, he possesses a unique voice drenched in emotion.
Opening track, “While They’re Watching” makes paranoia attractive.
By far the catchiest track on the album comes in “Blue Jeans,” a story about a mod hipster
lass who is as bored as she is beautiful. She sits in a corner café and has “a waiter named
Wordsworth.”
Could it be, in this ode to a denim queen, the band makes a nod to the British Romantic
poet, by the first name of William, who spawned a literary movement? The shout-out to a
forefather of lit is very fitting for PJA, considering that they are making prolific poetry of
their own. Lyrics like “Sugar-coated cannon balls are heading straight for me” and “words
are carved into trees/begging their lovers not to leave” provide stunning visuals that haunt
and delight.
Whether it be an older woman in “The Collector” whose friends are “stored in boxes up on
the shelf” or that cute café chick with a coffee addiction in “Blue Jeans” who is “watching
that T.V.” and “rotting her brain” PJA’s characters blare out of speakers and settle in our
hearts.
In “Whisper that You Need Me” Crider comes across as a guy pleading with a love who is
about to slip through his fingers. The result is pure melodramatic, melodic perfection.
The album closes with “Tear Yourself to Bits,” a chilling ballad that asks in a politely sung
tenor to self-destruct. I guess requests to bugger off can sound sweet when set to charming
instrumentals.
Verdict: Plain Jane Automobile is fueled by thoughtful lyrics and accelerating jangly riffs,
pounding percussion and booming bass that will make listeners want to dance and
daydream.
X-Factor: Back in 2005, PJA took home the grand prize at the Disc Makers Independent
Showcase. They have shared the stage with indie rockers, turned treadmill hoppers, OK Go.
PJA’s songs “Blue Jeans” and “Close My Eyes” were featured on SBK: 7 Superbike World
Championship Soundtrack. - Metromix Orlando- Kalene McCort