Edie Sedgwick
Her Love Is Real...But She Is Not
(DeSoto)
Since the release of their album First Reflections, the group Edie Sedgwick has transformed itself from a post-punk drum/bass duo to an electronic rock solo project fronted by ex-El Guapo member Justin Moyer. Oh yeah, it might also be mentioned that Moyer is now apparently in drag and he now goes by the name of the group itself rather than his own moniker. Conceptually, the theory behind Her Love Is Real...But She Is Not reads in a similar way as the other album from the group in that all the songs are about actors and actresses.
Unfortunately, while the first album from the group had some biting lines and observations to go along with the oft-intense and involved music, this newest release is heavy-handed in every sense of the word, bludgeoning the listener with lyrics that are so simplistic that they sound like they could have been improvised (and not in a very thoughtful way). Take, for example, the vocals of "Robert Downey Jr." in which the line 'Relapse/Recovery' is repeated roughly 50 times while being offset with the lines 'Here's a Guy Doing What He Should / What About Those People Doing What They Could?' On a deeper note, the lyrics of "Martin Sheen" juxtapose the absurdity that he once played a character in a movie about Vietnam (Apocalypse Now) while he now plays the president of the United States. Oh my!
Musically, most of the album sounds like discards that didn't make a LeTigre album as analogue synth melodies brush up against licks of juicy guitars and lo-fi drum machine beats that repeat ad-infinitum as everything crashes and hits to back up the wailing over-the-top vocals. One of only a couple tracks that breaks the mold is the understated "Arnold Schwarzenegger," a song that mingles restrained organ chords with hilariously introspective lyrics that manage to hit the target much more than anything else on the release. While the vapidity of the lyrics and the casio-beat versus canned-riffage style of the music is also no doubt a commentary on the vacuous celebrity fascination and throwaway culture of our country, Her Love Is Real...But She Is Not simply doesn't rise above the flotsam by failing to add anything new or insightful to the discourse.
Rating: 1
