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spotlight! paint it pink
By Cassie Hood
hoodc@mscd.edu

Pink Spiders Teenage Graffiti (Suretone Records/Geffen Record, 2006)

Pink is the new black. Everywhere are guys donning pink shirts, shoes and hats, and girls are covered in multiple shades of the rosy hue. So it’s no surprise that spiders are pink too, at least for Tennessee band The Pink Spiders. With their first major label release, Teenage Graffiti, the band is showing the world that pink is in and boring black has been kicked to the curb.

Packed with energy and excitement, the album is 40 minutes of nonstop dance rock. With sounds ranging from doo-wop to emo to ragtime, each song offers something different.

“Modern Swinger” has fast, frantic vocals accompanied by Bob Ferrari’s basic march beat on the drums. Jon Decious is slow and deliberate with each pluck of his bass strings, while Matt Friction’s guitar is deep and hurried. The lyrics aren’t deep or meaningful, as Friction sings, “Yeah, my baby’s pretty as a car crash, sexy as a stinger of a hornet in your arm, just another modern swinger,” but they do their job to entertain. Despite their silly nature, the lyrics get stuck in one’s head and jump around for hours.

“Little Razorblade,” the best song on the album, features a synth, making the song sound straight out of the ’80s. The guitar rushes from chord to chord, stopping only to let the drums march through. Friction’s vocals reach the breaking point as he screeches and screams. For parts of the song, claps form the beat until the drums take back the limelight.

In “Adalae,” there is a ragtime-inspired piano throughout the song. Friction’s guitar lightly ventures in, but the focus of this song is on the vocals and the piano. Friction’s gentle voice brims with emotion and is whiny at times. The back-up vocals sound like a distant barbershop quartet.

The only disappointment on the album is “Hey Jane.” The wailing back-up vocals, mixed with Friction’s cracking voice, are not desirable at all and can get a tad annoying. With its repetitive drums, the song gets old fast and drags on and on. Luckily, though, it’s the only unpleasant track.

With that exception, The Pink Spiders’ Teenage Graffiti is one of those albums that can be played over and over without ever getting boring. Their high-energy songs get the head bobbing and make it impossible to sit still. So put on some pink and join the fad, because pink is taking over.