Dear Courtney Love,
I do love you, but this chick might be coming for you because you’ve been slacking. In they recently released EP entitled Maybe She’s Bored With It, The Obvious have brought back that raw, riot girl fury and boiled it in a cauldron with a grungy, foxcore zest. While Adele may evoke an empathy that brings tears, Angie conjures up the demon that has grown inside her and sets fire to her tears.
“Mercy Burns” is like a smack in the face with toil and trouble. It’s waving a fire-engulfed torch in your personal space. A bit of moaning in the beginning, but it instantly picks up and before you know it Angie is howling like an anguished banshee who’s been haunting the creepiest and dreariest cemetery you can imagine.
The second song, “Last Lily,” reminds me of Butthole Trumpets. Angie, having a sort of Daria or fat girl in the corner complex, sings, “If I was pretty, yeah you would want me. You know I’m ugly, yeah I am ugly.” Of course you feel, or hear rather, her torment as she shrieks in the chorus. Drummer, Rob Blake, has perfect tight fills and change ups in this song where the song beckons percussion transitions.
“Mile High” is the reminiscence of what The Breeders or Veruca Salt help embellished. More bass driven and a bit lighter, Mike Smith walks us around with a happy and pop-ish active melody. It had my head bobbing side-to-side. “Angst Song 97” is a catchy two-minute punk song that is similar to Nirvana’s “Sliver”. Angie narrates how mom, kids, and grams want to go outside, however, “everyone died.” The Obvious’ ever-going optimism…
“Heaven” is the slower more alternative rock track that starts off, “I got a letter from heaven, they said I’m never gonna get in. They said there’s no use in trying, they said there’s no denying.” Angie softens out her voice for this one as her back up singers harmonize with her in the chorus and adds in some “ohh’s” and “ahh’s.” There’s a piece of her tainted soul hidden in this, not so much in a fiery-passion way, but in a more wretched and despairing way.
“Dead Noise” is that “I give up on love, cupid can go…take a walk” anthem. Angie let’s the world know, “If someone doesn’t take me home, I will sleep alone, yeah I sleep alone.” Instead of a distorted slur of power chords, Astorri, follows her voice around on lead.
The Obvious’ Maybe She’s Bored With It is a great start to their career and as Pete Steinkopf of The Bouncing Souls (Chief Engineer and Producer for the EP) claims, “The Obvious… are on FIRE.”
For more information on The Obvious check out their official website, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter pages. Get Maybe She’s Bored With It now on iTunes.