In less than three years, Pelé have somehow amassed four full length
albums. That is a lot of music for a young band; however, all the music thus
far has been at least adequate (at best great), and it does allow the
listener to hear how the band's sound has changed over this short period
of time.
The band's first album, Teaching the History of Teaching Geography was pure
pop, based mostly on spacey-sounding keyboard melodies. The first change the
band underwent came quickly and loudly after the band lost their keyboard
player that was very much the root of their sound. The followup to that
release, the Blue Cecil 12" on the British label Rosewood Union, was a
major change for the band as the remaining members took over more songwriting
responsibilities. The band would no longer be content with being pigeonholed
as electronic pop.
The Blue Cecil record featured the epic song "Apiary" which later became the
anticlimax of their 2nd album, People Living With Animals, Animals Kill
People. Distancing themselves far from their college-boy pop roots, the band
upped the jazz quotient tremendously on these releases, showing a big
affinity to Gastr del Sol, even picking up pianos and acoustic guitars for
"Apiary." The sound was still warm, but the melodies were no longer clear
and flowing, instead scatter-shot, abbreviated, or stuttered.
Their third full length, Elephant, continued this, going further and further
down that road; the band was so wrapped up in sounding smart, the
music came out disconnected.
On this release, The Nudes, the band's songwriting has become mature, as
the band has somewhat come full circle, re-embracing pop melodies while
remaining jazz-leaning and forward-thinking. The band's genre-hopping
is seen in full bloom on this release, as they transfer from rock to jazz to
country to Latin and back again, still retaining a certain sameness in
composition that links all of the songs and makes the album a cohesive whole.
This linking element in their sound is the drums, which retain an open, jazz
feel throughout most of the record, staying near the foreground in most of
the band's songs. In "Therapists," the intro to the song has two twangy
guitars (perhaps one is a lapsteel) dueling it out before the quickly played
drums come in, taking the song into new territories country songs do not
attempt to go. "Nude Beach, Pin-hole Camera" could be a molasses-drip
slowcore song if it were not for the hyperactive drums and percussion that
make this quiet song something altogether different. "Total Hut" uses a
meringue 8-count beat but lets syncopated hand drums and off-center keyboard
flourishes get in the way of some righteous Latin dancing. This song is
perhaps the only of the eight on this album that sacrifices melody for
ego, the rest of the album keeping the band's smart, jazz feel but not
letting it get in the way of writing a good song.
If more clues are needed to demonstrate Pelé's re-embracing of pop music,
look no further than the pair of songs, "Black Socks" and "Gugi," on the
second half of the album, recalling the straight guitar pop of certain
other Milwaukee bands Pelé is related to, only musically much better
written and executed, with very well done guitar parts and drum patterns
that take the compositions to higher levels. By coming full circle
and re-embracing pop melodies, Pelé has released their best album yet.
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