Papa Vs Pretty - Heavy Harm (EP)
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Papa VS Pretty are the young band that could follow in the footsteps of silverchair et al. by writing songs far beyond their youthful years. Heavy Harm is their third EP and includes six songs of the rock genre. Some of these are more towards the side of pop, others are cock rock and the remainder include the straight-up variety of the former.
The six tracks are not as catchy as some of their previous songs ("Sleep (Again)" definitely deserves an applause) and this set was produced by none other than Paul Dempsey. The major difference between this EP and their most recent effort is just how bleak these songs are. It's a difference as striking as Eskimo Joe shifting towards the dark side on "Black Fingernails, Red Wine".
If we look at the lyrics of "Sgt. Suffer", we get words that are every bit confronting and full of brute force. The couplets include: "In the dens of monsters/feasting on our brothers and sisters," "I will hunt you down" and "One hand will severe the other". It's the type of thing you'd expect an emo to be singing about while sitting alone on a particularly maudlin day.
There are some manic rock songs on offer; "Heavy Harm" is like a soaring Christian rock song crossed with musical work by the Kings of Leon. Sounds a little too slick, it rolls by all scattered and skittish. "Wrecking Ball" features a fabulous groove and "Piper" has some sweet pop harmonies and surf guitar, while "Ask Yourself" is full of distortion. The latter also includes the kind of big guitar riffs typically synonymous with rock gods like Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore.
Rounding off the release is the love song, "I Still Believe in Us". It starts off as an acoustic number sitting somewhere between an Eric Clapton ballad and a José González tome but starts rotting from the 1:42 mark as drums kick in to spoil the sweet sentiment and extra instrumentations taking away the emotion from the potential heartstring stirrer.
The trio have received some criticism in the past for their lack of musical "direction" or specific sound but for my money it's this willingness to dabble in different genres that presents a major strength in their work. "Heavy Harm" is a good EP that has allowed the band to build upon their musical repertoire and writing. At times it can be a little hit and miss, but there is still a lot of potential that can be heard in the EP. It's just a pity that they seem to have gotten bogged down in self-wallowing and crazed rock sounds.
