January 14, 2010

Best of the Decade, Number Four: Pedro the Lion – Control

Pedro the Lion - Control Artist: Pedro the Lion
Album: Control
Release Date: April 16, 2002
Label: Jade Tree

If you ever wanted to know what catharsis would sound like if you could distill its pure essence… well, listen to Control. It also has all the hallmarks of a David Bazan album in droves. Sex? Yes. Violence? Yup. Foul language? Mmhmm. Questioning faith? You know it.

And it’s all packed near-perfectly into narrative form, with heartbreaking care. Bazan bares his soul in a way strictly autobiographical songs won’t allow. Instead of being tied to what has or hasn’t happened, he’s free to explore eventualities that — while not completely disconnected from his worldview — aren’t bound by his own predilections.

It’s like Flannery O’Connor, except with testicles and a guitar.

11 Responses to “Best of the Decade, Number Four: Pedro the Lion – Control”

  1. On 01/14/10 10:11 AM, sammy said:

    My friend asked him once what “Second Best” was about, and he just said, “Listen to Rapture first”. It all made so much more sense after that.

  3. On 01/14/10 12:31 PM, apleaforblake said:

    Such a killer record. Changed everything for me as far as creating honest music goes.

  5. On 01/14/10 12:35 PM, luke said:

    his greatest work to date. he hasnt reached genius like that until now with curse your branches. this is one of the few cd’s where every song is great and you can listen to it beginning to end without skipping 1 song. thats pretty rare.

  7. On 01/14/10 1:14 PM, Patton said:

    Great fucking album.

  9. On 01/14/10 6:03 PM, George said:

    Great album and I love Bazan, but don’t ever compare him to Flannery O’Connor because there is no comparison.

  11. On 01/14/10 6:14 PM, Sean Cannon said:

    yeah, there is a comparison. i never said bazan was as good as o’connor. i just said that he does something similar to what she did (because he does). last time i checked, that makes room for a comparison.

    just because you state similarities between two things doesn’t mean you’re saying one is better than the other.

  13. On 01/14/10 6:33 PM, sammy said:

    Yeah George, just because your moustache is similar to Freddie Mercury’s does not mean you are gay.

  15. On 01/14/10 8:16 PM, Jay DiNitto said:

    A comparison is used as an objective descriptor between two or more things that share the same property. It’s not a measure of quality or declaration of a superlative.

    FRRRRT

  17. On 01/14/10 8:17 PM, George said:

    I would probably compare Flannery O’Connor to another author and David Bazan to another songwriter. But that’s just me.

  19. On 01/15/10 12:21 AM, Sean Cannon said:

    well, when a musician writes stories with a similar tone, subject matter and aim as an author, i’m pretty sure that merits a comparison.

    bazan might write songs similarly to another musician, but the point isn’t “he writes songs the same as these songs.” it was “here is the kind of project bazan is undertaking in song form.”

    so you don’t think bazan is as good as o’connor. neither do i. but that doesn’t change how language and logic work.

  21. On 01/15/10 5:34 PM, George said:

    Agreed

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