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Pretty Boy Thorson & the Falling Angels

Ain't It Funny (2006)
Redemption Value

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Contributed by: Jesse
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on May 1st 2007

Yeah, you're going to give me shit 'cause my bro's the drummer, but fuck off. I'm not going to listen to a shitty album because I know someone in the band. And if I didn't believe in this fuckin' band, I wouldn't be writin' this review in the first fuckin' place.

After recording thier self-titled EP, Jesse Thorson and the boys got into a good studio and slammed out a re-recording of most of their EP along with a few new bruisers and one track best described by its title: "The Best Part About Getting Dumped Is That You Get to Write a Power Ballad." You've also got punk-country jams like "28 Yrs." that features the chorus "Everybody says I'm lazy / I'm a no-good piece of shit / it's been 28 years of fuckin' up / but I'm just too dumb to quit." But just because some songs are re-recorded doesn't mean that they should get pushed under the rug. Gems like "If the Drinkin' Don't Kill Me, Then I'll Think of Something Else" and "The Luckiest Man Alive" got a hip new going-over, most notably from the change to upright bass and two electric guitars, where on the last album the bass was electric and one o' the guitars was acoustic.

Shit, where are my manners? You might not have heard these guys before. Well, they specialize in playing honky-tonking country songs too fast and too drunk to be classified as country or even alt-country -- as my bro so elequently put it to me as we were eating dinner together with the fam one night, "We're not alt-country; we kick the shit out of alt-country." The songs are unmistakably country in their roots, their chords could have been Haggard or Cash tunes some time ago, but the attitude and speed and rowdiness is a bit much for a starlet from Nashville.

Each song focuses on altered states, gettin' angry and mad and sad at the same time, heartbreak and headaches. But don't pen them into the party boy category. The Dan Johnson-penned "Grandad" touches on some heavy subjects: "Somewhere down inside that bottle / there's someone I don't want to meet / There's an angry man at the bottom of that glass like my father's father before me." And don't forget the organ on "Two Step Across Two Harbors." That wasn't there before.

The album's 10 songs and 23 minutes. The tunes are toe-tapping and beer swilling. The band is PBT & the F'n A's. And their songs are brilliant.

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Anonymous (May 4, 2007)

I was at one of these fucks shows in florida and that shithead singer charged me $15 for a CD. BOYCOTT!!!!

eyeslikebombs (May 3, 2007)

Even though this review is kind of lame, this album is pretty sweet. I'm not really diggin' the vocals, but they work. Solid shit.

Anonymous (May 3, 2007)

jesse thorson here...
i did not know that $3 was being charged for the shipping. we are having someone else take care of the sales thru the myspace. price will be fixed.
sorry.
jesse.

Jesse (May 3, 2007)

The EP was a self-released CD that I think was burned themselves. It had the same 4 song 7inch on it, plus a few extra songs.

Anonymous (May 2, 2007)

dudes...
check with no idea or, soon, a.d.d. records for cheaper distro...maybe. or just sit back and relax. coming soon to a city near you...
mutha' fuckas'

Anonymous (May 2, 2007)

whoa, nevermind about buying that cd!

$8.99 plus$3 for shipping? since when does it cost more than $1.50 to ship a CD? and since when do punk bands (that aren't signed to ridiculous labels) charge more than $8 (ppd) for a cd?

it's not that i'm cheap. it's just that if a band at this level is selling their shit for $12, then i know that they a) aren't very enthusiastic about the music they're making ('cause they obviously don't want anyone to hear it), b) don't care about fans, and c) will only pull even more ridiculous shit if/when they get more popular.

Anonymous (May 2, 2007)

i take it the EP you're talking about isn't that 4 song 7 inch, 'cause I don't recognize any of the song titles you dropped in this review... anyway, good for me, that means more songs i'll get to hear for the first time.

what's your brother play in the band?

Anonymous (May 2, 2007)

This band fucking rules. Jessee thorson is a badass.

Anonymous (May 2, 2007)

this band is awesome!
caught there show at the alamo with off with thier heads. before the cops came and some dick thought it was cool to slash the cops tires, now we dont have a sweet house for shows here anymore. little fuckers love to destroy their own scene.

AlmostPunkENough (May 1, 2007)

pretty good shit on their myspace, where can i get a copy of this?

ANSWER ME!

branden (May 1, 2007)

from the songs on the myspace, this just sounds like regular punk rock. i can see the country influence, but its not as distinct as i would have guessed. it kinda sounds irish.

icapped2pac (May 1, 2007)

Jesse, you've officially jumped the shark, in full Fonzy garb. Word to Jon Hein.

Anonymous (May 1, 2007)

Tell your brother to quit this band, if you really love him.

Jesse (May 1, 2007)

No, is your screenname stupid?

Yes.

And now I just won the Internets.

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!

eYESLIKEBOMBS (May 1, 2007)

This review was a real pain to read.

The band is PBT & the F'n A's

Are you a valley girl?

Anonymous (May 1, 2007)

from the review i figured i'd be able to get into em...but.

they sound like they draw their influences from equal measures country and pop-punk.

I love the former, dn't mind the latter, but the blending of the two doesn't quite work here.

still gotta show some love for a modern band branching out and embracing their roots.

Anyone who digs this should probably check out:

legendary shack shakers
those poor bastards
sixteen horsepower

all give off the same sorta vibe, albeit with notable differences.