Pants Yell!, Recent Drama

reviewed by dave heaton

There's something magic about limited-edition, hand-crafted albums and singles, especially when the music inside is also unique and interesting. That certainly was the case with the first few releases from the Massachusetts-based pop trio Pants Yell! First there was a cassette, then a CD-R, a split CD-R, a 7". Each of these small, somewhat oddball recordings included truly superb small, somewhat oddball pop songs, wedding a shy, gentle, introspective mood to wit, humor, and a swinging way with melodies.

Recent Drama is the first Pants Yell! recording released in a more conventional format – it's a proper CD in a digipak. But that lack of format novelty doesn't affect the magic. If anything, Recent Drama is the most special Pants Yell! release so far. That has nothing to do with the packaging (though the cover art is, again, stellar), and everything to do with the fact that they've built up their songs into a fuller and even more attractive state.

Recent Drama opens at a gallop, singer Andrew Churchman starting right off with words of empathy for someone feeling sad: "the movie made you feel shitty / the car ride made you feel worse / I guess your life's cursed / but it always seems that way." "Kids Are the Same", that song is called, and its level of understanding for the lonely and the overlooked is very representative of the overall outlook of Pants Yell!'s songs.

Their world often seems like that of middle school or high school, their songs directed to the art students and the unpopular kids, and everyone with an unrequited crush or a secret desire to be doing something else with life, or who has realized that being an "adult" isn't all it's cracked up to be. (My favorite lyric on the album fits in that last category: "employment is as employment does / I hate work / just because.") These seemingly youthful concerns are really universal ones, or at least it seems that way to me. Even when there's school-age allusions, the emotions strike me as true to everyday life experiences.

Recent Drama includes several songs that are moving even when the tone is light-hearted, when the tune is set to a rolling, bouncing melody or a gentle, light-as-air slower one. Or when there's a poking-fun-at-yourself sense of humor to it, which there often is. I love, for instance, the playful yet touching way that "Your Feelings Don't Show" puts together a portrait of the doldrums with someone's in-head wonderings about if an ex-lover is still interested.

On Recent Drama the trio keeps a brisk pace, running through 11 generally upbeat songs in under a half-hour. A friendly chorus of backing singers adds a jovial communal tone throughout, a nice touch. The trio's melodies are as strong as ever, and they play their songs with a particular boldness and confidence that helps make the album so striking. All of the unique charms of Pants Yell!'s music is on display in full color here. Recent Drama's songs are sweet, sad, and joyful at the same time. It's an impeccably tuneful, uniquely moving and out-and-out fun album, just one more reason that Pants Yell! have me more excited about the current state of music than just about anyone.

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