ZapTown

Bettie Serveert
Pharmacy of Love
Second Motion
Rating: 3 out of 5

Links:

Betie Serveert’s homepage: http://www.bettieserveert.com/
…and on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bettieserveert
Second Motion: http://secondmotionrecords.com/

Darlings of the indie rock scene Bettie Serveert return with their noisiest record yet, Pharmacy of Love.  Returning after a 3-year break between albums, The Betties (as they are also known) return with just three solid members, Carol van Dyk Peter Visserand Herman Bunskoeke. Joined by guest drummer Joppe Molenaar (on loan from Dutch band Voicst) for this thier 9^th studio album, Pharmacy of Love was recently released in March of this year, following a tour of Netherlands and Belgium.

9 solid tracks dot this marvelous map of music. Overall, the record shows good production, bringing the drums up near the front of the mix. The vocals are clear and seductive and the guitars bright and thick. The bass production is a bit spare, being left too often in the quiet background. This may be a reflection of the tinny Mac speakers on my laptop, but they certainly don’t stand out like the rest of the group. Pity. The album sounds familiar, but not in the sense that I’ve heard it all before. It sounds like this is either the source that others have copied, or the improved version of that which “I have heard all before.”

The opening track for the release, “Deny All,” is bright, punchy and poppy. Clocking in at the near-perfect pop song length of three minutes, the track includes guitar hooks, repeated use of guitar licks, multi-track vocals and aggressive drumming. Added bonus- van Dyk’s lyrics move from intense in the verses to rather cute and sweet by the end of the chorus.

The second of three tracks of note is the song “Souls Travel.” In this track van Dyk’s vocals are at their most honed. The multi-tracked vocals are pitched so well that it truly sounds like the Indigo Girls playing alternative rock. Really if you’ve ever wondered what that would sound like, check this tune out.

The seventh piece on Pharmacy of Love is a long one, more than twice the length of any other song on the album. Clocking in at just over nine and a half minutes, the first third of the song is ambient sounds played over a slow, ringing bass. At right about 3 minutes the drums kick in for an imaginative scene-setting tempo, then drop out. When the vox kicks in, they return. Meanwhile the guitars are just experimenting with single note distortion. Finally at about 5 minutes, the band gels together and begins a slow, at times complex, driving tune. The song length could probably have been cut down by a few minutes on both end, thus reducing the avoidance those with short attention spans may experience with seeing liner notes noting length. The upside is that those who are patient enough to listen to the whole song, the ending is rewarding.

Overall, this is a solid album. I’ve seen the band’s name before and have passed it up many times with the unfounded impression that it would be “boring chick rock.” I stand corrected.

RIYL: Indigo Girls, Breeders, Rainer Maria,