Volume 3

If the synth punk revolution heralded by Suicide, the Normal, and the Screamers in the '70s never quite happened, Prettiest Eyes demonstrate that the notion that keyboards can be just as expressively jagged as guitars still lives in the hearts of a handful of brave souls. On the third album from Prettiest Eyes, sensibly titled Vol. 3, Paco Casanova's keys and electronics dominate the arrangements, and he takes their harsh sounds and runs them through enough reverb and processing that they sound like a journey through a nightmare-inducing aural funhouse. The low-tech sting of his vintage drum machines and junk-shop keyboards is a fine match for the deep pulse of Marcos Rodriguez's bass lines and the simple but muscular impact of Pachy Garcia's percussion, and Vol. 3 moves the body as well as striking anxiety in the heart and mind. This music rocks with a sinewy confidence despite the lack of a lead guitar, and the richly layered chaos of the performance is full-on punk in its aggressive eagerness to attack the listener with expressive dissonance. Prettiest Eyes chill out a bit on "Another Earth" and "Strange Distance," but even those tunes deliver a dub-wise menace that doesn't let all the tension dissipate, and while "I Don't Know" may start out slow and slinky, by the end of its four and a half minutes, the trio have worked themselves into a frenzy that's ferocious and beautifully unnerving. Vol. 3 isn't always comfortable listening, but that's obviously not what Prettiest Eyes have in mind; they wanted to make noise that will rouse and stir up the audience, and they do so brilliantly on their third go-round. ~ Mark Deming