Table of Content
The half as long "Mirrorgirl" is much more abrasive and piercing as well as engaging. The soundscape of this track is very dense and packed with a cornucopia of sounds similar to that of a Death Grips track. I really love how short, sweet, and crazy it is. "Maybe This World Is Another Planets Hell?" is the polar opposite of what came before, being one of the quietest and sparsest songs yet. Unlike "Bliss and Stupidity," this song utilizes the space in between sounds really well. It's less claustrophobic and works really well as a breather track.
That being said their raw and chaotic take on industrial electronic music stll feels original and bleeding with the personalities of Devi and Rook and the production always brings new things to the table with each release. 'Creep U' rules, opening with a great live bassline and it builds with nice vocal harmonies before falling apart with the noisy electronic stylings Black Dresses are known for. 'Damage Suppressor' and 'Please Be Nice' are also awesome and 'Peaceful as Hell' finds as much good in the groups singing melodies as it does in the anxious noisy production. Interested to see how they will evolve from here as this record feels like a bit less of a step forward compared to the progression of their previous material.
Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy
Additionally, the vocals when they aren't processed are an acquired taste, which I have mostly acquired but perhaps not across a 45 minute album. The Canadian noise-pop duo’s music conjures a psychotic slumber party, or a Second Life rave, but remains grounded in the bittersweet beauty of lifelong friendship. "Peaceful As Hell" is Black Dresses' final project and is a fun and aggressive mix of glitch pop and industrial rock. But it's so fucking irritating to listen to. One day, I could love it, the next I'll hate it. In addition to all this instrumental madness, it is also worth noting the magnificent texts, which, despite their simplicity, do the lion’s share of the work on the formation of the release as such.
Seems they released it on their bandcamp alongside the album but it doesn't seem to be available anymore but the album itself is. She has been a member of several side-projects over the years, including "The Various Endeavors?", where she was listed as an official member of the band. She produced/co-produced most of the band's music from 2007 to 2010 and is seen pictured/depicted in promotional artwork on their bandcamp page. In August 2021, Black Dresses' music returned to streaming services. In December 2021, Black Dresses appeared on the holiday compilation album Christmasasaurus X2 with their version of the song "We Are Children of the Light" by Eugene O'Reilley.
SHARP HALO
"Scared 2 Death" is heavy, industrial rock guitar heavy track that continues this crazy streak of quality songs. It's a brief cut by you can call me a liar if I ever said it didn't keep my attention the entire time. "Express Yourself" is just as heavy, running further with those industrial metal guitars. It's a wee bit more melodic and I think this suits the sound really well. This track probably the most chaotic vocal distortion on the entire album too. I'm not really a fan of the chorus, both vocally and instrumentally.
Its just rock and roll, it's not that serious. Worthless praying keep the music playing can you keep on singing with me as the hours stretch on so evil? I know its not that easy can u stay alive if u can? "Left Arm of Life" is an alienating opener complete with an icy atmosphere, warbled and distorted vocals, and dejected lyrics.
BLISS AND STUPIDITY
Initially i thought this was mostly because of how strongly and specifically their music spoke to the trans experience, again in ways that can be hard to put into words. There's a slapdash earnestness to most of their music, cheap-sounding electronics clashing against rough singing and ultra-noisy production, which acts as a pretty easy parallel to the trans experience, or more specifically the way that it can often feel like you're simply a rough approximation of your true self. It's not like all music by trans people is punky and angsty like this. Well, in my experience the pain that comes with dysphoria and societal pressure can often exacerbate the pain that's already there, right?
After about 4 and a half minutes of chugging away, the song ends in a way that is so fitting with everything really just melting in an unrecognizable pool of noise and distortion. "666" is the sun after the rain on this album. It's the closer of the album and is a lot more emotional knowing that it's Black Dresses last song ever. The line "maybe we could fix it later?" hits especially hard.
It has an aura of controlled chaos to it, from the use of distorted synths and compressed beats to the intentionally haphazard vocal layering. On songs such as Angel Hair and Bliss and Stupidity, especially, I would argue the sound design is the best element to Peaceful as Hell. Wonderful textures and dreamy melodies set to a lite-industrial machine rhythm and it ends in an ambient drone. Parts of this were pretty annoying, and the style of music doesn't really vibe with me.
The album is a follow-up to their third album LOVE AND AFFECTION FOR STUPID LITTLE BITCHES, released 9 months prior. Most everything else suffers from either being being built around super generic melodies or not being built at all. By that I mean that most of these short tracks simply don't have enough space for any significant development so they end up feeling somewhat novel and their tendency to choose really cheesy melodies certainly does not help.
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