She Wants Revenge "She Wants Revenge

 She Wants Revenge "She Wants Revenge" 9/10

So, here is a record that is just very near and dear to my heart, in many ways.  First things first; this feature is going to be on a CD (I do own and play those too).  This was released right at the peak of the CD/MP3 era, and I *think* only made it onto wax in Europe.  So, aside from what are maybe a few hundred copies floating around in DJ's milk crates somewhere in Hamburg, you are probably going to have to find this on CD or through a streaming service to listen.  

The best way to describe She Wants Revenge is Bauhaus with a beat.  DJ/multi-instrumentalist Adam Bravin and rapper/guitarist/vocalist Justin Warfield formed a duo that convincingly combine hip hop sensibilities with the danceability of a New Order 12', and the drab atmosphere of Bauhaus, early Cure, Depeche Mode, etc.  The first time I heard their music on college radio in early 2016, my jaw hit the floor.  It simultaneously sounded like the records from the 80s that I loved, but felt totally new.  It felt like a fresh breath into a long dormant genre.

Around the time, there were other post-punk revival acts.  They all coyly played as if they had never heard the records that had influenced them.  I remember The Strokes pretending they had never heard Television, and Interpol playing it cool when asked about their obvious Joy Division odes.  She Wants Revenge weren't afraid to tell you exactly which wells they were drawing their water from.

This record plays out as a journal of personal turmoil and broken relationships.  The music is sometimes dance, sometimes rock, always drab.  Justin Warfield's voice is the perfect accompaniment to the lyrics; his monotone delivery somehow elicits all of the emotion of heartbreak, disappointment, regret, and sometimes hope.  There is a sort of sensuality that oozes from his voice.  The songs sort of paint a picture for me of every failed relationship I had in my early 20s; I think that is sort of the universal appeal of this record.

1) "Red Flags and Long Nights"

This song is pretty much all about what is in the title.  The interesting thing here is that it is unclear whether our narrator or his interest is the red flag who is gearing up for long nights full of passionate fights and passionate intimate nights.  It sort of feels like an admission; if you are always drawn to unhealthy relationships, it is a pattern that you will probably never break. 

2) "These Things"

Track 2 on our journey feels like another cautionary tale.  I remember my days of hanging out in goth and alternative clubs in the early 2000s.  This song feels like it is about the girl that is crying in the bathroom at the club every week over a fight she probably help start.  That person who constantly says "I hate drama" but is seems to be constantly engulfed in personal problems.  This song at least gives you a solid four on the floor to dance about it as your roll your eyes.

3) "I Don't Wanna Fall in Love"

Classic track in the vain of The Beatles' "If I Needed Someone."  A story about a man who has become smitten with a woman, but he isn't there.  Has a very 90s/2000s drum machine and synth part.

4) "Out of Control"

"Out of Control" has a very Prince-like feel to it.  Not so much musically, but in the narrative.  Prince always had that way of talking his expository interest up and submitting himself.  That is the vibe we get here; when you make eye contact from across the room and are instantly drawn in to someone.  

5) "Monologue"

Another Prince-esque piece.  This one gets way racy, with the chorus as well.  Kudos for figuring out how to make "Just give me the safe word and smack me in the mouth" into a sing-along chorus.  

6) "Broken Promises for Broken Hearts"

The tale of an on-again off-again relationship.  Two people who can't live with our without one another.  Also, another fantastic sing-along chorus eluding to make up sex, and dramatically ripped up photos.  

7) "Sister"

The classic story of a guy who picked up an "off duty" nun, realized she was probably a virgin despite her consent to have his way.  It feels like our narrator feels intrigued and empty at the same time.

8) "Disconnect"

This is a soft instrumental.  It sort of paints a sonic picture of a person sitting alone in a room, quietly trying to piece together his or her next step.

9) "Us"

"Us" is full of regrets and looking back with rose tinted glasses.  All of the songs that lead up to here feel like they are warnings of danger ahead, but danger that the curious will never avoid.  This song feels like the conclusion of what happened after the tumultuous relationship ends, when we often remember all of the fun and excitement, and none of the toxicity.

10) "Some Must Get Hurt"

This song is the first that has the full-on album filler feel.  It reeks of a scorned lover who puts up all of the walls and road blocks after a big breakup, and who will not let anyone else in.

11) "Tear You Apart"

If you don't have this on your Halloween playlist, stop what you are doing and add it in there.  It starts with a latin beat, which turns out to be very deceptive.  This song gets it all right, great bass line, sunsuality, great delivery, and an element of danger.  Lady Gaga used it for a vampire sex scene in the "Hotel" season of the television series "American Horror Story."  It turned the song into a #1 download nearly a decade after its release, and inspired the band to reunite.  

12) "She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not"

Not the strongest "closer"  (more on that in a minute).  It is really just a long lament into uncertainty.

........and then the "hidden track."

So, this is sort of an institution of a bygone era.  Nobody really put hidden songs onto any other media besides the CD.  The shorter sides of an LP or cassette don't allow the playtime to run long enough for it to be a surprise.  If you forgot to go and change CDs once your album was "done," you would be rewarded with this little bonus, tagged onto the end.  Often the songs were really weird and experimental.  Here we get a pretty straightforward track.

13) 

A song that warns of the flipside of the thesis of the bad relationships the rest of the album highlighted.  Once you go for that "safe bet" you find yourself lost in boredom.  This song shows us from both the male and female perspective just how unsatisfying stability can feel.