Pitty Sing – Self/Titled / 2003 Or Music / 3 Songs / http://www.pittysing.com / http://www.ormusic.com / Reviewed 15 November 2003

Sounding like a mix between old-school U2 and The Cure, Pitty Sing comes to the forefront of the synthesizer-kiddos while mixing in an aural sound not unlike the bands off of any of John Hughes’ movies’ soundtracks. “Radio” sounds especially like “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by the Simple Minds, even down to the chirpiness of the track. Continuing that general sound, these looking-back individuals try to recreate the melodrama of the eighties with slightly less overblownness the second time around. Pitty Sing doesn’t ever let any moment of weakness shine through – their dedication to working within a very specific paradigm, something that might limit them in terms of originality, is in reality a blank check for creative freedom.

The workshop experience of “Robots”, which at the beginning gave me a dread feeling that I would be hearing yet another Deadsy or Orgy, gradually goes into typical mope-rock with faceless synth noises swirling around the singer. The meshing of guitar-driven rock to the nu-wave stylings already put forth on the disc by Pitty Sing really fails them on “Robots”. For example, this track is outwardly catchy, but gets into trouble when the line between nu-wave and rock is breached, giving the track too much of a crowded feel. Also, the vocals on this track seem almost too computerized and forced into a specific aural limiter – the highs and lows of the vocalist during the track seem flattened unnecessarily.

While I’ve said of lot of just information about Pitty Sing, what do I actually feel when I hear this band? I see Pitty Sing as a necessity – in this time of numerous bands resurrecting less-than-favorable genres (The Darkness for hair metal and the Kings of Leon for country-rock), Pitty Sing breaths some air into a relatively stale genre, which is something that even David Bowie or Martin Gore (Depeche Mode) couldn’t do. While I would like to see something done with the typical rock parts of these tracks, as they do seem relatively generic, I do see potential in these guys.

Rating : 5.6/10

Top Track : Radio