REVIEW: Pity Sex keep it simple on ‘White Hot Moon’

pity sex review

Artist: Pity Sex
Album: White Hot Moon
Genre: Alternative Rock, Indie
Label: Run For Cover Records

There’s typically this underlying expectation with every musical act that a second album has to be bigger and different than its predecessor. Sometimes, though, bands refrain from taking huge risks and instead opt for the safe route, still managing to produce a listenable record. Ann Arbor four-piece Pity Sex has done the latter with their sophomore LP, White Hot Moon.

There’s no real noticeable difference between Pity Sex’s 2013 debut Feast Of Love and White Hot Moon in terms of sound. The fuzzy guitar riffs and the distortion that oozes ’90s alternative rock nostalgia are still there. This isn’t the worst thing in the world, though, as the band seem content with riding the same wavelength that made them gain attention in the first place.

White Hot Moon is at its strongest when co-lead vocalists Britty Drake and Brennan Greaves work in unison rather than competing against each other’s vocals, such as in the tracks “Burden You” and “September.”

It’s not until halfway into the album that Pity Sex showcases some of its standout work with “Plum,” immediately followed by “Nothing Rips Through Me.” Drake bears her soul with “Plum” as she tells a heartbreaking story of her mother’s death. It starts off slow, with Drake immediately making an impact when she sings, “My mother loved the summer but not for the weather / She loved her midseason plums / June, July, August sweet ones,” before the drums roar in. Similarly, “Nothing Rips Through Me” has a sense of sadness as Greaves wails through the lyrics, which take a few listens of isolating the heaviness of the track to understand what he is saying. “I’m okay, I’m okay,” he sings.

Although the rest of White Hot Moon doesn’t quite hold up to the intensity and vulnerability of these two tracks in particular, the rest certainly shouldn’t be written off as forgettable.

Pity Sex is a highly likable quartet that’s sure to gain more recognition as time goes on, but they still need to push the envelope a bit more, as opposed to playing it safe as they continue to grow.

SCORE: 7/10

Bianca Silva
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