She Wants Revenge

What do a couple of DJs from the land of milk and honey know about darkness? Quite a bit, it would appear from She Wants Revenge's self-titled debut, which bubbles with the same debauched, white makeup/black lipstick vibe and downcast synth as British darkwave progenitors Joy Division, Bauhaus, and The Cure. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the guys in She Wants Revenge are world-class brown-nosers. Seemingly as much a concept as a band, Justin Warfield and Adam Bravin outperform Interpol in the sense that they seem unconcerned about being perceived as "art fags" -- there's no pretense of being "rock" to SWR's credit. Part of the music's appeal is its cold pallor and morose distance, but it also has an inherent melodrama that's the antithesis of cool detachment. Warfield and Bravin perfectly capture that dispassionate, postapocalyptic Peter Murphy tone (as well as the affected '80s British New Wave vocal lilt), and its glossy glaze may indeed be an apt metaphor for L.A.