I buy a lot of albums. Digital, vinyl, even the occasional CD. Sometimes, what happens is that I buy something, love it, then get wrapped up in other stuff and kind of forget about it. That's happened with several records this year.
Given that not many of the newer releases have been grabbing me lately, I was kind of stuck this weekend about what I should review. I do plan on getting around to talking in detail about the great, new albums from Spook Houses and Sleepies; but I wanted to curb some of my obsessive tendencies and break the posts up a bit this week. Then I remembered PS I Love You. I decided to go back to their release from all the way back in May of 2012, Death Dreams, and I took it out for a run with me this weekend.
I came across Death Dreams right about the time that Japandroids released Celebration Rock. Another guitar / drum duo from Canada, PS I Love You are Paul Saulnier (guitar / bass / vocals) and Ben Nelson (drums). Coming to Death Dreams after hearing Celebration Rock made for an interesting opportunity to contrast the album by Vancouver's Japandroids, and all of its youthful exuberance, with the Ontario duo's collection of songs inspired, according to the Paper Bag Records write-up about the band, by Saulnier's dreams about his own mortality while on tour. I really like both albums, but something about Death Dreams appeals to my darker side.
And it isn't just the album's origin story that gives it its edge. Much of the sound is rooted in eighties and nineties alternative guitar rock. There's even a big, seventies almost glam rock sound on "Sentimental Dishes." "Don't Go" features a chiming, melodic riff over heavier, distorted rhythms. "Future Dontcare" and "How Do You" achieve that kind of mid-eighties wall of sound. There's more straight-up punk on "Toronto" and "Princess Tower." "Saskatoon" moseys along on a slackery, almost Pavement-like vibe. And the Mascis-esque guitar on "Red Quarter" is one of the album's highlights for me (there's my obsessive fanboyism again).
It would be silly to underestimate the contribution of Nelson's drumming to a band that consists of just two members. Nelson does an excellent job providing the foundation for PS I Love You's sound, but it's Saulnier's guitar, and the varying ways he puts it to use, along with his yelp of a voice that really stand out on Death Dreams.
I've really loved several of 2012's "noisier" albums: Japandroids' Celebration Rock, Cloud Nothings' Attack on Memory, Screaming Females' Ugly, and The Men's Open Your Heart. Death Dreams belongs right up there with them, and I didn't want it to get lost in the shuffle. I'm glad I went back to it, and I don't think I'll forget about it again.
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