by Matt Watton (@brotinus)
Pardoner have hit their stride. The San Francisco four-piece is known for guitar-driven tunes that straddle the line between the pop-rock anthem and the sludgy punk screed. Peace Loving People, their fourth LP, fully captures their singular sound built around the infectious interplay of the guitars and vocals of the two main songwriters Max Freedland and Trey Flanigan. If third albums are where a band “matures,” then the fourth record is where the band settles in: Pardoner has nothing to prove to anyone; it sounds like they’re making music for themselves and their buddies, and we’re lucky to be a part of it.
This is a rock album for guitar fans. Between tracks and within songs, you are confronted with an amalgamation of the best elements from rock’s finest decades: chimey 60s tunes about drugs and love, 70s classic rock riffs, 80s hardcore breakdowns, 90s fuzzy slacker rock solos (“Are You Free Tonight” somehow combines all of these in just over two minutes!). Guitar fans will swoon over melodic lead lines (“My Wagon”), tasty dual-guitar solos (“Dreaming’s Free”), the lawnmower overdrive of “Cherries,” the infectious jangle of “Lily Pads”. There’s something fun and refreshing about their approach to heaviness. In a time when so much “shoegaze” uses overwhelming volume and distortion to lull and entrance, Pardoner goes the other way and keeps things dynamic, uproarious, anthemic, and danceable.
Lyrically, Pardoner taps into wells that have proved fertile in the past. Throughout there’s a self-effacing snottyness that at once lambasts the rock scene and holds a mirror to their own place in it. “Deadbeat” derides half-hearted scenesters in lackluster bands, while “Get Inside!” captures the psychic struggle of staying hip and “with it” (is it cooler to listen to Stereolab or Arthur Russell?). This is rock-and-roll attitude without being gate-keepy, and it’s clear they contemplate their own contribution as artists in this messed up world (“Love Yourself and Others”). Pardoner also writes a killer love song, using just enough metaphor to bear their tender soul without blowing open the emotional dam (“Rosemary,” “Doberman,” “When She’s Next To Me”). Their lackadaisical yet gritty vocals sell the songs, and the harmonies with singer Sinclair Riley make for a nice touch.
Pardoner evokes a hard-working slacker rock energy that belies their artistry and seriousness. If there’s anything to critique, it’s that I want MORE! The songs are tight and refined, lacking nothing and jam packed with catchy parts that makes their 2-3 minute run time all-the-more tantalizing. Well, that’s what the repeat button is for. I recommend listening to this (and the entire Pardoner discography) on heavy repeat for the rest of the year.