I'm not a bad man, I'm just overwhelmed....

A little history.

In the mid to late eighties, I lived in Chicago for college. At that time I was already a music junkie from coming from Jersey, but I was mostly a pop music junkie, except for the smattering of British pop I got from buying the old Now That's What I Call Music cassettes at the old Listening Booth music store in the mall. Of course college brings together people of all cultures, and being in a big city also blends in a whole heaping of variety, and I found myself exposed to all sorts of music. I had actually become bigtime into the goth-lite bands like Nitzer Ebb and Depeche Mode and the poppy electro of Erasure and New Order. Dressed in black a whole lot and dying my bangs alternatingly electric blue and purple, I was unrecognizable to who I am today. A shy, ultraslim, brooding young man, with my friend Cherrill we went to the big industrial dance clubs of the time there, where I would just let loose in a dancing frenzy. No alcohol, no drugs, just the music to satisy my soul.

She Wants Revenge is a fond flashback to that era, where music like this was embraced by people who sought it out, not force fed like the pop/metal fare at the time. Comprised of "valley boys" Justin Warfield and Adam Bravin, She Wants Revenge sounds like they've studied Bauhaus, Cure, and early New Order records in a locked room for a week, and with great results. Nasal, dark vocals compliment the robotic dance-step production the band uses in the album. Beginning with "Red Flags And Long Nights", which starts with a Cure guitar lick over seemingly the drum beat from Depeche Mode's "New Life", fades in to create the somber yet urgent atmosphere they're apparently going for. "These Things" is more epic, though more eerie in its lyrical content, with an air of paranoia swirling around Warfield. There are somewhat brighter spots on the record, like "Monologue" (which to me seems to incredibly lift the bassline from the Backstreet Boys' "Larger Than Life" and graft it on a goth track), though the minor chords obviously hold sway on the whole set. "Someone Must Get Hurt" sounds more current than the rest of the album, though not in a bad way. And the big modern rock hit from the album, "Tear You Apart", doesn't flinch from the pattern of angry, focused words over the music filled with every hook from the new wave rulebook. If fact almost every one of the songs on this set could've found a home on college radio ten years ago, let alone today. However, She Wants Revenge doesn't sound dated and stale, and is a very cool listen, but don't put in on the stereo for a peppy type of party, mind you. But for a night of "F*ck the world" dancing by yourself, this CD does the trick.

Grade: B+
Best Cuts: "Red Flags And Long Nights", "These Things", "Monologue", "Someone Must Get Hurt", "Tear You Apart"

She Wants Revenge hit #38 on the US albums chart, and #3 Electronic albums.
"Tear You Apart" hit #6 modern rock and #122 pop singles.
"These Things" made #22 modern rock.

You can pick up She Wants Revenge at sites like here and here.

To listen to the kickoff track "Red Flags And Long Nights" you can click here to download (it's better to rightclick to bring up another window).

and here's the fab video for the song "These Things", featuring Shirley Manson of the band Garbage.