“One Father, Another”
from the album Safe as Houses
2006
iTunes
After dusting off an 8-track collection of fractured-twee-pop home recordings (((GRRRLS))) and having them remastered and released, Zac Pennington got to work on his next collection of songs last year. With the help of Dead Science members Sam Mickens and Jherek Bischoff (who also served as producer), he has created Safe as Houses, another collection of tender and unsettling songs, that tell the story of a mother and daughter that far surpasses their predecessor in instrumentation, production, songwriting and maturity.
While opener “Love Connection Pt. II,” follows (((GRRRLS)))‘s closer “Love Connection” with the same menstrual-blood and sweat lyrical themes, its darker subject matter and swelling instrumentation separate the two songs, setting a mood that continues throughout the rest of the album. Most songs, including the aforementioned one, contain a Parenthetical Girls staple — the glockenspiel. But it serves as a secondary instrument here, taking its place further back in the mix among the new warbly guitar, distorted synth, drums, and woodwinds which allow the more ambitious arrangements of Safe as Houses to fully breathe. This expanded sound, along with the decidedly darker themes and storyline present on Safe as Houses, have Parenthetical Girls learning farther away from their slightly twee tendency and more towards an art-rock-pop sensibility.
Standout track “I Was the Dancer” is a great if not devastating example of this. A tentative guitar enters and a distorted synth cracks into the mix outlining Pennington’s trembling vocals, telling the story of a mother’s unwanted pregnancy: “[C]urls round your face, Christ you looked just like me/ when you took nine months to destroy my body.” Midway through, haunting strings joins in as Pennington declares “I was young then/ Full of grace then.” This story continues with the equally well-executed “Oh Daughter/ Disaster” and “One Father, Another.“ “The Weigh She Fell Under” with its drones and pounding drums reminiscent of Italian art-rockers Larsen, makes for another passionate and interesting listen.
Unfortunately, the second half of the disc falls slightly flat compared to the first, with several songs blending into another, although the addition of woodwinds to some of the tracks make for a nice sonic compliment. Changing it up with the slower tempoed “Stolen Children” makes for a pleasing closer, full of twinkling atmospheric glockenspiel and a surpringsly amount of hope despite the depressing state in which we leave our characters.
Pennington is often known to wear dresses on stage, a move that might require a bit of confidence, but it is this kind of subtle boldness that makes Safe as Houses appealing. His untrained tenor trembles with emotion yet is still able to sing with confidence, often times going into falsetto, embracing the imperfections. The confidence in which these notes are delivered allows them to not detract but rather add to the album’s appeal while portraying the humanity of the music and the lives of the characters explored.