Puerto Muerto - ...Your Bloated Corpse Has Washed Ashore!
(Fire)
The uniqueness of the duo is obvious right from the first track, "Silver Shoes." Around a backdrop of jangling guitars and a thundering bass drum, Tim and Christa weave a melodic tapestry of sound that is so good only the use of extremely pretentious clichés can describe it. Fantastic. The rest of the album does not disappoint. Whether it's the military drumming of "Jean Lafitte" or the scratchy storytelling style of "Das Vidania," each song builds on the last to create a singular piece of work.
The band's songwriting works perfectly with the sound they've created, the craft and the acoustics working off each other for maximum effect. It's hard to imagine anyone but Tim and Christa singing these songs, with the exception of the sole cover, "Sorrow." To many, the definitive version of this song is itself a cover (David Bowie's immaculate version from Pin-Ups), and it sounds like Puerto Muerto got their inspiration from that cover. Christa sings in a lower register than she normally does, while the guitars scrape like something from a PJ Harvey track. It's the one misstep on an otherwise perfect album, but not such a bad one that it can't be forgiven or overlooked.
Puerto Muerto tries a host of different styles over the 19 songs (18 listed and one hidden) that comprise ...Your Bloated Corpse Has Washed Ashore!, and they all work. This is one of the best albums of the year, and one of the best debut CDs of recent memory. Remember, folks, you heard it here first, Puerto Muerto is a band to watch, they're going to be damned important in the coming years.
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