The Sharp Ease Going Modern. Release Date : February 8, 2005. Label: olFactory/SoftSpot Records Rating: Andy doesn't dig rating stuff. I think this band has a neat name - who'd have thunk the name of a marker could be changed to become so clever sounding? It's cute oi-girl rock on the initial get-go, but that quickly becomes old/annoying/changed. There's lots of cutesy-vocals and squeaky voices, background group singalongs and guitars, just enough cool snips thrown in to make them decent musicians... but still I think what carries this is the 'cute' factor and them being girls (cuz hipster boys just want to do girls on stage) and the timeliness of its release into the world of new-wave. A few off-kilter wails, screams-trying-to-be-boys, sex noises, and I-dont-care-what-I-sound-like off-key drawls, just like any modern chick rock. It's sort of halfway between a Ladytron and a Metric... only not as accomplished. The notes are dropping on and off, up and down. "Life Preservers," the second track, is fun. It's fun, thats good for a description. You can boogie to it all hipster too-cool-for-this style and totally fit the mold. It's trendy. It's good but it'll be over and out of date as soon as the next trend walks in. It's full of weird abrupt song stops... everything is calculated to be quirky. The lyrics are often nonsensical, arty attempts, repeated lines. The music is pretty basic with some weird key noises. Back to the voice, there's huffy low gruff speak-parts. It's a rollercoaster of vocals and I think there's too much of these girls trying to be all over with them. "I Demand" has a pretty neat drum part in the middle. You know what? I've had it. There's just simply too much squeaking! Fierce, aggravating, forceful squeaking. When guys do music like this, it's just better, and I think it comes down to the vocals. Guys can actually sing, but girls (who don't want to be fluffy singer-songwriters) always try to sound like boys and be strong but still be cute, so they end up doing all these choppy vocal contortions, trying to sound disaffected (re:cool) yet emotional (re:girly), and it just ends up sounding hackish. To my ears anyhow. Again, it's fun, good to dance to and such, and I dont have a big problem with it as long as it's realized that this sound is a trend and hopefully it will be buried with pointy candy-coloured suede stiletto boots before too long. It's breathy and saucy and will drive hipster boys up the wall with lust, no question. It'll easily be popular. Maybe I'm just getting sick of these bands. And while a lot of guys manage to have a distinctive voice at least, girls always sound exactly the same. Is the squeak awesome or horrible? It's like Raine Maida... it was okay as an accent once in a while, but it's just too much now. "Joan" is cool, a bit different, more like a cheerleading theme. The vocals are different. The lyrics are blah, but I guess thats not the point. It's neat though... the rhymes are pretty clever... you're on fire Meyer. "Great White" starts sounding like some old school guitar rock band, like KISS or something. But then the SQUEAKS start AAAGH. Stop it! "Great White" throws me over the edge. I officially hate the screaming. What a way to go too far and ruin an otherwise neat record. Boycott the over-squeak!!! Song of choice : I think "Joan" would be the top choice. -Andy Scheffler Elsewhere The Sharp Ease website Published : March, 2005.