Parenthetical girls - Entanglements??
August 15, 2008 by Gareth Stack
Filed under Reviews
Continuing the baroque revival with lush orchestral arrangements, perverse lyrics and a hodgepodge of eclectic instrumentation - Parenthetical Girls third LP ‘Entanglements’, ripe with snatches of verse and vocal phrasing referencing pop’s credibly melodic lunatic fringe (from Kate Bush to the Smiths), is an intricate if occasionally overloaded enterprise. It’s as though someone sat frontman Zac Pennington down and told him he had one final stab at an album, and in terror he threw a career full of instrumental experimentation behind his Connor Oberst meets Travis Morrison falsetto. Over the top production is simultaneously ‘Entanglements’ greatest strength and weakness. At its best, as on the dreamy pedorastic ballad ‘Avenue of Trees’, or the multiplicitously referential ‘Song for Ellie Greenwich’, or on Penningston’s wonderful reimagining of Michel Legrand chamberpop staple ‘Windmills of Your Mind’; ‘Entanglements’ is a candy coloured clown - tumbling through conceptually driven lyrics and multigenre medleys with knowing delight. But where it falls down, as on the Dresden Dolls style dirge ‘Abandoning’, or the Fiona Appleishly overwritten ‘Gut Symmetries’, the album can seem top heavy and cloying in a way that eschews the unpretentious evocativeness of the best of its precursors. That said, ‘Entanglements’ is an intriguingly dense listen, highly recommended for the Jon Brion / Andrew Bird retinue, and fans of perverse, delicious, instrumental pop everywhere.
Actually dying to hear this. Forgot it was coming out.
Calling this album top heavy is an understatement. Parenthetical girls shouldn’t be in the same state as Connor Oberst let alone the same paragraph. At best, Zac Pennington could be called a poor man’s Marc Almond. This album is a tough listen. No thanks!
It’s definitely a bit of a chore to listen to; but I think Pennington has done something interesting, in defying the aesthetic that’s dominated indie music since the 80’s. There’s nothing raw or lo-fi here, quite the opposite, yet the songs are give the space and ingenious arrangements you might find on something like the John Brion cut of Fiona Apple’s Extraordinary Machine.
This shit is awesome.
cat, you are the world’s biggest asshole. This album rules and you know it. There’s a special place in hell for people like you, the BURNIEST parts of hell. I hope your stereo burns out and no one lets you buy or borrow one from them.