Monday, July 28, 2008

Smile Pretty Misery: Feast your ears on this one

Smile Pretty Misery

Anger, elation, confusion, contentment, despair - the debut effort by Long Island, New York-based indie pop/rock band Smile Pretty Misery will take you through an entire menu of emotion before leaving a satisfied taste in your mouth. I was hungry for more of these guys after listening to the six tracks comprising Measured in Miles (August 2008 / self-released), a short but well-developed collection full of variety.

From the jovial tunes "(You Know) You Gotta Love Her" and "June to September" to the moodier "Will But No Way" and the quiet, reflective "Happy New Year," each track will evoke a separate feeling. (Although the EP only introduces us to six songs, that awesome microchasm known as YouTube can feed us four more tracks for dessert, replete with footage from recent gigs. Just log on to youtube.com and search for Smile Pretty Misery. Consider them bonus tracks, of which my definite favorite is the powerfully atmospheric "Satellite.")

Careful and detailed composition is the first striking feature of the collection, especially on "Blood Red Ink," which adds strings as a backdrop to the dark picture the song paints. Irony and metaphor reminiscient of Jason Mraz and Fiona Apple are common lyrical techniques, as demonstrated on the track "Happy New Year" with lines like "Seems all broken-hearted dreamers have nothing more to teach us / When they become presented with problems they can't solve." In "Snake Oil Man," with lyrics like "He speaks in Ragtime riddles / He's peddling peace of mind / He's a regular broken-record salesman," the point is so cleverly stated that it could be about almost anyone, from a drifter ex-lover to President George W. Bush.

Smile Pretty Misery demonstrates a capacity for songwriting much more mature than its two-year history as a band would otherwise indicate. Perhaps it's due to lead singer Jaymes Welsh's classical opera background and the resourceful style of drummer Chris Bonacorsa, or perhaps it's due to the energy of bassist Mike Bayer or guitarist Al Domingo's prior experiences playing with a host of well-known Long Island acts. Whatever the case may be, Smile Pretty Misery has clearly made a smart move with Measured in Miles, satisfying through and through.

More Smile Pretty Misery:
www.myspace.com/smileprettymisery
http://www.smileprettymisery.com/

~Janine Sebastian