Pain Teens
Destroy Me Lover

I believe the best comment on this album was made by my father: "What are you listening to?" A banal comment, you might say; in reality, my father hit the nail on the head regarding the importance of this album. With his "What are you listening to?" he most likely meant to say "What GENRE are you listening to?".

Indeed, because "Destroy Me Lover", the fifth effort by Houston's Pain Teens, is the most formidable mix of genres and styles I have ever heard. The work truly makes room for everything: all the genres and all the essential authors in the history of rock. Thus, "Cool Your Power", the opening track, sounds like a somewhat dark ballad, reminiscent of Siouxsie, but above all Legal Weapon. Evil spirits roam menacingly throughout the agitated rantings of Bliss Blood, one of the most underrated voices in female rock. It quickly shifts to "Prowling" (to me, the masterpiece): the tones move from dark to almost-folk. The bass line is irresistibly catchy, and Blood's subdued litany perfectly fits the atmosphere of spiritual tragedy. "Tar Pit", on the other hand, is clearly industrial in origin, a march for androids traveling without a specific destination, a cybernetic bacchanal steeped in dissonances. But the best alienation on the album is thanks to "RU 486", marked by the most "tacky" college pop, with a little Abba-style chorus, and especially in the vein of the Green's "White Soul". It's most likely the only moment of true relaxation on the album because right after, you're hit with a Hiroshima-style barrage that opens "Dominant Man", which erupts into a wild 50s boogie, characterized by the incessant beat and the usual anxious voice of the performer.

Overall, this demonic pandemonium is even danceable. The most experimental track is undoubtedly "Sexual Anorexia", where it also touches the techno of Orbital, with minimalist repetitions and industrial cadences that could scare Girls Against Boys. Samples, cerebral loops, and a general sense of unease make it an oppressive track. "Lisa Knew" means the return of nightmares, again imposing themselves, personified by the effects that Blissie Blood's sick witch-like voice manages to create, thanks also to Merseybeat-style vocal counterpoints and echoing booms that blend to excellence. Rich in terrifying distortions is "Body Memory", a sort of Dante-esque journey in the underworld, accentuated by dark drones and claustrophobic booms. It is quite clear that the first part, the more sunny and carefree one, has completely disappeared: this is excellent proof of the ability of this collective to make very different genres coexist, creating perfect harmony from opposites. In this sense, they are Heraclitus's best disciples in music. In "The Story Of Isaac", the major reference this time is Leonard Cohen; it is a sad, decadent ballad, but it is unexpectedly (too beautiful it seemed!) torn apart by a Wire-style finale.

New wave, punk, psychedelia, singer-songwriter, shoegazing, industrial, house... the music of Pain Teens manages to encompass four decades of rock history. In this sense, it is the most brilliant possible.