Stolen Babies
“Self-Titled”
(No Comment Records)
Are you watching Laker playoff games? All of Southern California seems to be watching Laker games right now. I’m not a Laker fan, I’m just going to come out and say it right now. I’m tired of their shenanigans. I’m also tired of this Stolen Babies CD and I’ve only been listening to it for like two minutes. It takes me at least a month to get sick of the Lakers. Stolen Babies four-track EP is sort of a hard rocking mess, full of thick guitar riffs and a bass line that can’t make up its mind where it wants to go. Musically, Stolen Babies is a wash.
The vocals are another story, however. Leading the charge is Dominique Persi, a sultry siren whose voice reminds me of Chick Hearn, the lone Laker I’d root for on any given night. Persi’s vocals are fairly adept but her songwriting is truly remarkable. Breaking free from the conventions of the hard-rock/nu-metal genre, Persi’s lyrics have a very poetic feel, as on “Idolesce”, where she laments an all consuming relationship singing, “You’ve become everything I thought I was/ You’ve taken everything I left behind/ So who was I?…On your lips no trace of shame, on your breath the smell of remains.” Pretty personal without being pretentious, unlike you jackass Laker fans with your flags on your SUVs. I hate you.
