Review: Sixty Stories / Painted Thin

Sixty Stories / Painted Thin
“Different Places to Sit / A Loveless Kiss”
(Smallman Records)

This is a split CD, with seven songs from Sixty Stories and five more from the regrettably defunct Painted Thin.  What do these two bands have in common?  That’s easy- one Paul Furgale, drummer for Sixty Stories, bassist and singer for Painted Thin.  Mr. Furgale is about all they have in common, though.  Fronted by Jo Snyder, with Keli Martin on bass, Sixty Stories is roughly comparable to Garbage with occasional electronic elements.  The lyrics are pretty bland, and Snyder sings in a monotone style that can get pretty tiresome.  Which brings us to Painted Thin, purveyors of a much harder sound that’s well-suited to Bergale’s energetic expression of viewpoints both personal and political.  The highlight of this split disc is definitely “Landmine,” which finds Painted Thin railing against the machine of Western capitalism.  Maybe I don’t quite agree with everything it has to say, but “Landmine” is still a hell of a song.  It’s enough to make you wish the members of Painted Thin were also Al Green fans.  Sing it with me, fellas- “Let’s Stay Together.”