Aqueduct, Or Give Me Death

by dave heaton

Or Give Me Death continues Aqueduct's habit of smart/funny/cool pop music, with David Terry's ironic, joking persona that also feels sincere, and plenty of awkwardly infectious hooks. But this album, their third, also feels more dour than the others, and it's not just the skill on the cover. On the first song ("Lying in the Bed I've Made") Terry sets up a songwriter-as-liar motif with an apology to his own songs. That continues with the next track "Living a Lie" ("it's not living a lie if you're not living at all") which sets up the album as a more complicated sort of letter – a bitter break-up letter, with the bitterness directed at himself, the other person, and everyone else. This is simultaneously played for laughs and with pain, within a climate of overlapping harmonies, rock guitars (generally played in non-rock settings), nonchalant beats, and soft-pop balladry with a bite.

The especially catchy "Broken Records" quotes AC/DC in jest, but is mostly sad in tone. "As You Wish" is both a '50s-ish prom song and a Saw or Reservoir Dogs-style torture scene. Throughout the album there's loads of kiss-offs and biting comments, winks and nudges too…but all eventually fade away to reveal a shattered heart, or maybe several.

{www.barsuk.com}