Oh, PRETTY AWKWARD, you had me at weird.
The Seattle band’s new album Get Weird does just that. No one else I’ve heard recently has this sort of quirky, one-of-a-kind take on alternative pop-rock. They aren’t inhabiting totally alien terrain, you’ll know where you are the first song in, but I love how the musical brain trust of Austin Held and Nicholas Wiggins exceeds my expectations at every turn and serves up so many distinctive songs. They aren’t imitating anyone – it’s not a put-on. They’re being their gloriously weird selves all down the line. Get Weird isn’t an one-and-done listening experience. You’ll hear it and, like me, keep coming back for more.
It has youthful energy galore and brains to boot. “Hang Out” is a song that the band’s younger fans will latch onto, for sure, but anyone who’s ever known what it’s like to be up all night, partying until dawn, and stalking the streets looking for adventure will get into this track. The band builds a great pop arrangement around these sentiments and Held delivers the lyrics with a been there, done that edge that makes the song even better.
“Misfits” is anthemic and has won them a whole slew of fans. It’s a song that’s as real as it gets with Held and his bandmates throwing their lot in with the outcasts, the misunderstood, and loving them without reservation. It alternates between great surges of energy and brief interludes where PRETTY AWKWARD pulls back in the reins. Emotion colors every syllable of the chorus. “Get Weird” comes across as advertised. It isn’t heavy-handed in any way, but they make a play for capturing the mood of our times and succeeds. It has a personalized tilt, as well, free from sweeping pronouncements, and instead focusing on connecting with its listeners.
The living on the margins quality of their lyrics for “Bad Habit” makes for one of the album’s best tunes. There’s a strong hip-hop vibe laced through a substantial portion of the song, without a doubt, but I’m a big fan of how they sync it up with strong pop sensibilities as well. It’s one of Get Weird’s most complete tunes. “Castle Walls” is another barn burner. It’s a passionate anthem that rips the lid off any restraint and Held lets it fly with his best lung-bursting vocal. The powerful fist that comes down with the song’s chorus will be difficult for me to forget.
Electronica makes its presence felt with the song “Higher”. It’s a turbulent winner, full of the same youthful energy that inflames the best parts of Get Weird, and I find it to be quite a thrill hearing this band so clearly inspired. It’s a call-to-arms tune, in some ways, an one-of-a-kind fist-pumping track that they deliver with alacrity. It’s often a cliché to say it, but their album Get Weird has something for everyone who loves life-affirming music. I’m hearing a band with a brilliant future in front of them and they crystallize their potential with these eleven songs. There’s not one of them you’ll label as filler.
Jodi Marxbury