Pretty Girls Make Graves EP

Pretty Girls Make Graves

This is the 100^th journal entry and when I started this, I honestly thought that I would give up shortly after as I do with my other projects. In celebration of my persistence, I figured I would share with you an EP near and dear to my heart. Here's to 100 more.

In 2002, I found this game that I would end up playing way too much over the course of my adult life. That game was called Whirl Tour. I'm embarrassed to admit that it was one of those Tony Hawk knock-offs... but with scooters. It's not a particularly great game but that hardly matters since this is a music blog. The important thing is that this game had a killer soundtrack. It featured underground emo and punk from the likes of Autopilot Off, Boysetsfire, and Bodyjar. We also got left field hip-hop from Deltron 3030 and a number of artists that appeared on the Stones Thrown label (I believe their founder Peanut Butter Wolf helped curate the soundtrack). However, one artist that stuck out to me the most was a punk and post-hardcore band from Seattle called Pretty Girls Makes Graves. PGMG made such a huge impression on me from that game that I continued to hold on to that name until I reached an age where I had the means to start building my record collection, and thus my musical taste. After years of reflection and spinning their records consistently over the years, I can honestly say that PGMG is one of the most important and influential bands to me. Their style, performances, the way they approached writing, was so unique and exciting that it is beyond me how this band became one of the most criminally underrated bands of the 2000s.

This EP is where it all started for the band, and while it is a little more straightforward compared to the albums they would come out with later, the foundation that makes the band so special was still there. One element of PGMG's sound that I'll start off with is the independence in the guitar playing. It feels like J. Clark and Nathan Thelen write their guitar parts in isolation, not knowing what the other is going to do. When their guitars are woven together, they cycle through these periods of confrontation and harmony, essentially creating that flow of tension and release. Even when they are playing these driving power chords in unison, every once in a while you will hear one side go on a brief tangent before locking back in with the other guitar. I get the sense that Clark and Thelen are very expressive players with their own distinct guitar personalities, and it must be freeing for them to just play and spontaneously go off without thinking about how their playing interacts with the other. It is just so cool to me.

Next, I have to give major praise to Nick Dewitt. Not only is he an absolute beast on the drums, but he plays with so much creativity and laser precision. Two drummers that really influenced my own playing, who's drum fills I have ripped off numerous times, are Nick Dewitt and Andrew Forsman of The Fall of Troy. I once heard an interview with Forsman in which he stated just how much of a fan he was of Dewitt and PGMG and suddenly everything started to make sense. The way he performs rolls between his snare and his tom, how he alternates between eighth notes, sixteenth notes, and throws in some triples here and there - his fill game is on a level that a lot of drummers just can't touch. Don't just take my word for it though. Listen to Andrew Forsman who is one of the most beloved drummers in the post-hardcore scene.

I implore you to listen to the whole EP because it's amazing and only around 12 minutes long, but if I only have you for a song, just listen to Modern Day Emma Goldman. Every single moment of this song is amazing and dare I say it is one of the greatest rock songs of all time. The track gets off to a fast start with these urgent drums and driving guitars that may appear to be played in unison, but if you pay closer attention, you can hear each guitars personality shine through as I mentioned before. The verses have a really catchy bass riff and the vocals - by the charismatic Andrea Zollo - have a band pass filter on them which gives a quirky radio effect. There are moments where we have these dueling guitars that are awesome, especially the quick pull-off riffs. Before going into the final section, Dewitt plays a puzzling triplet fill leading into a brief moment of space before ushering in the finale with two sharp snare cracks. Zollo lets out these manic, broken-up shouts in the last chorus, really just letting it all out before the song ends. Everything that makes PGMG great is showcased in this one song.

Pretty Girls Make Graves' career was unfortunately rather short and they never really received the praise I thought they deserved. Personally though, they have been one band I admired and looked up to for a really long time now. With each listen, that love and appreciation only grows as I understand a little better all the elements that are at play. I'm not sure when exactly this EP was released but it must have celebrated a 20 year anniversary recently, so please, go listen to and celebrate this fantastic EP.