BREAKING NEWS: Small-town band of five pretty little white boys with eyeliner and tight pants records debut CD on indie label, drawing thousands upon thousands of fans, many of which are female!
Anyone surprised? Right, NO ONE. So you look at Coretta Scott, check out their flawless yet ubiquitous sense of style, their appealing CD artwork (the gold against black and white looks fantastic), their unique song titles which sort of remind me of a mix between Brand New and Norma Jean's song titles mixed together, and their quick and solid rise to the top on Rise Records, and you wonder, "Why should I even bother? Every other band has done this."
Well, if I had to point out the biggest factor that separates Coretta Scott from the rest of the eyeliner-Myspace-emo scene, it would be the fact that they constantly and intelligently while poetically challenge the scene itself. Take for example the CD opener, "Fashionably Depressed." Brilliantly written and brilliantly sung with a dark dancibility, while meaningfully condemning the whole look-at-me-I'm-crying-the-eyeliner-out-in-my-Myspace-photo trend. And that adds an extra tone of situational irony, because those are the kind of people Coretta Scott's music really appeals to in the first place.
Fans of Lorene Drive, Taking Back Sunday, and especially My American Heart take note; I almost guarantee you will like Coretta Scott. The CD is full of emotive, dark, danceable emopop, with plenty of dashes of wit and sensibility. Don't be prepared to be pummeled by heavy, crazy thrashing, because it doesn't happen on this album. What Coretta Scott neglects in heaviness and virtuosity it makes up for in melody and musicality. And most of the songs are slightly depressing, in a fashionable way. Which brings us back to the irony! I'm so lost, it's almost as confusing as that NoFX ska song called "Ska Sucks."
The paradox Coretta Scott creates for itself is a worthy enough reason for you to go check them out. To make things worse (or better), the band puts out an excellent CD of continuous emo pop that you could shake your ass to while you cry your eyeliner out. Great. Experience the paradox; get the Scream and Shout CD.
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C.L. '05 |
