Album Details

• Artist: Pela
• Album: Anytown Graffiti
• Label: Great Society
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2007-04-26

While Billy McCarthy’s vocals tend to wear after awhile, drifting perilously close to angst-ridden emo, this debut has power and genuine rage, proving that everyone who is sad and writes melodic rock songs need be precious.

While there is nothing new hear, and many songs follow the current pattern of low, bass-driven rhythms backing the vocals until the wall of guitars come blasting through—there is even a song ironically called "Song Writes Itself." There is a freshness to their anger, though, on "Waiting on the Stairs" and "Your Desert’s Not A Desert At All" and on a few others, that shows signs of independence from the genre’s shortcomings. The record ends with a couple of songs, "Tenement Teeth" and "Rooftops-(Moth Song Outro)" that give even more hints at what they may be able to grow into. So they rock, then fall back on what they know, then right the wrongs by learning and rocking some more.

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