Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 05/02/2006
Mon Frere's volatile mix of post-
new wave dance-
punk and
electro '70s-infused
power pop falls somewhere between
Green Day,
the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and
the Scissor Sisters, with a healthy love of
the Damned. The West Coast trio is singularly obsessed with vampires, lycanthropy, and the broken, bleeding hearts of doomed teenagers. As bleak as that sounds, they have a lot more in common with
the Cars than they do
the Cure, and their full-length debut for
Cake Records is both fun and brooding, exuding a wicked late-night energy that conjures up images of
Lost Boys-era Los Angeles. Vocalist/keyboard player
Nouela Johnston screams with the best of them, but she can vamp it up as well, lending her pained,
Gwen Stefani-meets-
Björk pipes to midtempo wind-downs like the smoky
"Leaving Town" and the full-on lighter-in-the-air closer,
"Harsh Winds." Blood, Sweat, and Swords is at heart a fun collection of
horror-
punk, and like the best of its genre (
Misfits,
Cramps,
Siouxsie Sioux), it doesn't get too caught up in itself.
~James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide