El Perro Del Mar Reviewed . . . Again
El Perro Del Mar
El Perro Del Mar
(Control Group)
Between helpings of crow, El Perro Del Mar’s self-titled debut redeems itself upon repeated listens.
Back in November, I wrote this album was mired in self misery and opaquely cast, so distant and unapproachable I offered to put her, Sarah Assbring, out of her misery. What didn’t figure into my judgement was how abrubt a departure it was from her fellow Swedes: The garage rock revival left me expecting, perhaps, more immediate results. Or maybe my head was just up my ass.
Either way there’s a need to redress and reassess. As opposed to a coldly dressed Tin Pan/Spector-esque pasting, the album now feels shy and desperate — blame this all on the iPod, whose “Shuffle” never forgets — and uniquely disconsolate. The muted horns (synths?) on “People” mirror Assbring’s sunken emotions, bursting with pain but unable to find someone to listen to its articulation. I do still think there are too few colors used on the canvass, but now the pops in her voice when she sings “You gotta give to get back” sound more sincere than I could have possibly imagined.
— Steve Forstneger
Appearing: March 6th at Lakeshore Theater in Chicago.
Click here to copy “God Knows.”
