pretty girls make graves
the new romance
'What the hell does that mean, "Pretty girls make graves"? Has the traditional means of digging holes in the ground ceased?
This name has been troublesome for a while now, and after giving it an on-and-off year of thought, the only semi-logical answer is a sexual one.
Follow the logic for a second here. Pretty girls are viewed, on many occasions, as sexual objects. Whether a person has intercourse with a pretty girl or does the deed solo-style pretty girls are, well, the motivation behind sending countless microscopic sailors to their early graves. Therefore, pretty girls make graves.
This thought has obviously occupied way too much time. Somebody help. WHAT DOES THEIR NAME MEAN?
It's rumored to come from a line in either Jack Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums" or a song by the Smiths, but I'm not buying it. That solution is too simple.
A band's name should not be that troubling. Fortunately, the music causes much less of a problem. PGMG's sophomore effort, "The New Romance," has all the intensity of a fling and the passion of a long-lasting relationship without its severity. It's a summertime tryst: airy, promising and brief.
Coming in at about an action-packed three-quarters of an hour, this record is not only poignantly laconic but also feisty. The band obviously had no intention of giving in to the curse of sophomore slump without a fight. Good news, they won! The advantages were always on their side, though. The deck was stacked with ex-members of Murder City Devils and Kill Sadie, supported by the re-burgeoning Seattle scene.
There is no sign of slacking at all on this record. The band doesn't appear to have let the critical acclaim of their freshman offering, "Good Health," go to their heads. They have built upon their previous work and grown from there. They are damned hard workers, putting a great deal of effort into every transition, chorus, pause and fill. No stone was left unturned and no hole was left unfilled. From start to finish, "The New Romance" is an enthralling joyride that does not stop for red lights. It floors the gas pedal and goes.
Pretty Girls, despite all the superfluous torment your name may cause to those who attempt to decipher its meaning, you deserve all the praise you get.