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This Norwegian band is friends and labelmates of Unknown Joe, who we also reviewed recently. Professor Pez write upbeat, jangly, super-catchy Elephant 6-influenced indiepop. Apparently there's quite a buzz around this band in the indie pop community, and no wonder: not only is this really great stuff, but Professor Pez has given the community a tongue-in-cheek anthem called "Indiepopkids", which goes "We are indiepopkids growing up in a rainy town / we're a happy bunch with a semi-original sound". It's the kind of self-referential song like Tullycraft's "Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend's Too Stupid to Know About" that the scene just eats up.
However, as the album title suggests, and despite the cheery music, the lyrics often take a turn toward the sinister and twisted, with stories about such things as evil hidden intentions, murderous janitors, vehicular homicide, and launching mentally-challenged people (or, as the song very politically incorrectly calls them, "Mongoloids") into space (and their bloody revenge when they return to Earth). I'm sure these lyrics are meant to be tongue-in-cheek, kind of in a South Park vein, and I'm certainly not averse to twisted humor, but there's something about the tone of the lyrics that prevents the irony from comig across, which is a little disturbing. Maybe it's a Norwegian-to-American culture-barrier issue, since obviously English isn't a first language to this group. But in addition to, or perhaps in spite of, my discomfort with some of the lyrics, I find the songs so wordy that I get a bit overloaded and start tuning out the lyrics about 2/3 of the way through the disc. My issues with the lyrics keep me from giving this my highest rating, which is kind of a shame because the music is so catchy and enjoyable that otherwise I'd be singing its praises unreservedly. (mike.02.05)
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