Mad Valentines, Brooklyn-based Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears’ follow-up EP to their 2008 full length release Flight of the Knife, defies categorization. From a stylistic standpoint Mad Valentines flirts with a variety of genres and never really settles down on any particular one. But this is far from a flaw in the music, and really says more about the needs of modern marketers to pigeonhole music into clear cut genres than anything about the band. In any case, Bryan Scary and his cohorts manage to weave disparate influences into a cohesive and novel sound. The unifying element of the six songs on this record is a devotion to saccharine hooks and melodies recalling the best of 70s pop music: Queen, Bowie, Elton John, Abba, Wings, the Bee Gees, Stevie Wonder, the Bay City Rollers, P-Funk – it’s all there somewhere.
Throughout the songs the band demonstrates a great deal of chops, but they don’t hit you over the head with their ability. That all the various instrumental parts are there to serve the songs testifies to an ethos of craftsmanship with which the band seems to approach its art. This is also true of the production by Jonathan Sadoff and Bryce Goggin, who manage to capture and enhance the vibe of the band while accentuating the pop elements in the songs.
With its classically-inspired piano introduction (vaguely reminiscent of both Styx’s “Come Sail Away” and the Stones’ “She’s a Rainbow”), dense arrangement and thick layered harmonies, “Andromeda’s Eyes,” the opening track and lead single, calls to mind vintage Queen. Well, maybe a Queen fueled by a cocktail of acid and amphetamines. The pace is manic and relentless. The track is played with reckless abandon, careening wildly through various sections and threatening at any moment to veer off the rails. Nevertheless, the track is packed full of hooks that’ll leave you bopping your head along to the beat as infectious melody follows upon infectious melody.
“Andromeda’s Eyes” segues into “(It’s a) Gambler’s Whirl” which serves as a respite from the opener by taking the intensity down a notch and settling on a sexy, slinky disco groove that would have not been out of place on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. But there is an edge to the track that is characteristic of the work of Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears and elevates the song from being a mere homage to the 70s. The band even gets to flex its muscles at the end of the track with a Moog and guitar fueled psychedelic jam.
The pop sensibilities of the band are on prominent display on “The Garden Eleanor” and “Maria Saint Claire” which sound like they would have earned the band an appearance on the cover of Teen Beat magazine in 1977 and a permanent residency on the Billboard charts of the day. The band manages to capture the sweetness of Elton John and Wings, but thanks to its edginess it does so without descending into the schmaltzier aspects of those artists’ respective works. “Bye Bye Babylon” features the band exploring a more 60s psychedelic “Incense and Peppermints” type of vibe to good effect. And closing track “The Red Umbrella” finishes up the EP with an anthemic hook that would be at home in the largest of arenas and stadiums.
Despite the stylistic shifts on Mad Valentines each track fits in well with its neighbors and together they produce a distinctive sound that stands out in today’s musical landscape. As a collection of songs the EP succeeds in showing off the band’s songwriting and musical ability and certainly merits repeated listening.
Nick Fokas
