Berkeley, California’s Odor of Pears wears its influences for
all to see. "Crown of Thorns" pays homage to late seventies new wave,
eighties gothic synth pop and modern industrial sounds. What is most apparent is
the goth.
Vocalist Diana Blackwell evokes all one expects from a gothic songstress:
faux-operatic wailing, suspicious whispering and dark, depraved lyrics. On the
CD insert, Joe K. is listed as being in charge of "Music," and Russell apparently takes care of "Visuals." Musically, it’s hard to
decipher who is responsible for what.
With songs named "Fuck Christianity," "In Sodom Again" and
"Babies Without Faces," and lyrics like, "An educated, cultivated
soul on venom drunken, loathsome to behold…though it may my dignity profane/I
can’t forget, like ice unmelting in the flame," it seems Odor of Pears is
mining the caves of gothic cliché. Perhaps this is intentional, for the group
does do an excellent job in donning the black fingernail polish and assuming a
position on the fog-filled stage of it forebears.
© Odor of Pears 2004, Rev: 02/10/04