Attention, the numbers of potential pop rock stars have grown. Two charming sisters of Alabama origin Allison and Catherine Pierce easily go through the stages of show business selection and gracefully outrun all possible rivals. Their fresh album Thirteen Tales Of Love And Revenge released under the family brand name The Pierces is quite capable to bring these girls heaps of admirers and lay a foundation for interesting and longtime career. Combining folk, pop and rock with Broadway grandeur and cabaret facetious farce The Pierces achieve a rare feel of refined musical sarcasm. But they are ready to show their sensitive side too – sometimes The Pierces sound touchingly and sad. Thirteen Tales Of Love And Revenge is a collection of light and beautiful three-minutes songs with quirky atmosphere and diverse arrangement. This simple but unbelievably catchy music was made for those who love delicate imagery, bohemian irony and leisurely recreation with a glass of red wine.
The album opens with wonderfully cute song Secret. Unhurried, slight melody of vocal and silent guitar strumming in waltz tempo – this is the simplest thing one could ever think up, but the song absorbs your attention with its retro fairy atmosphere immediately and doesn't let it loose till the very end, in short, a great song to start the album. Then the album's hit Boring comes. The main thing in this song is that the musical context corresponds to the title in a full measure; it is literally imbued with laziness and drowsiness. It has in interesting lyrics and original verse in the vein of Madonna. In fact, the album carries a double nature, as if it was divided into two parts. The first one is more comic, there are no jokes as such but a quirky artistic irony still presents in it. The second one is serious, one can even feel sisters' attempt to create something new. However, musical themes in both parts intercross. Thus, for instance, Kill, Kill, Kill or Boy In A Rock And Roll Band have a peculiar cabaret spirit, which is expressed mostly in the album's first part. Such songs as Ruin, Three Wishes or The Power Of… represent another side of The Pierces. These tracks sound extremely sensitive, especially after the excitement of first ones. Their slow acoustic arrangements and beautiful, slowly burning with melancholy vocals create a familiar but unusual sounding, which one may call pop-folk music.
For the most part Thirteen Tales Of Love And Revenge is an acoustic album. The energy of songs is based on the album's material, not on facilities of samples and studio wizardry. It becomes especially clear when the second part's ballads start playing. While the band continues using the same set of instruments the music turns to something really different. However, The Pierces make use of additional opportunities from time to time. For example, they tried to apply disco beats and handclaps, and rhythm section on Lies sounds much more dense and poppy than on the rest of the songs. Overall, the production work is excellent. Everything sounds simple but bright and professional. It is worth making a special mention of vocal merits of Pierce sisters. Allison and Catherine possess pleasant timbres and they can sing in different genres therewith. And this is that very reason that endows every song with its unique character. Thirteen Tales Of Love And Revenge is a really interesting, kind and original album. It is worthy of your attention indeed; there is some special thrill that many modern artists lack for.
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