CORPORATE LINE: Singer/songwriter Angelina Moysov while growing up in Russia was influenced by her mother who loved Russian Folk and Gypsy music, as well as her brother’s collection of British and American music and the underground Russian punk and New Wave that helped Russian youth through hard times. Angelina came to America in 1993 and soon met guitarist Tom Ayres, who was immediately drawn to her strong melodies, lyrics and unusual songwriting style. Their first self produced LP, “City of Love” was nominated for the best debut album at the California Music Awards in 2002. The word of mouth buzz caused by their live shows earned them a 2001 SF Weekly Award for Best Pop Band, and led them to share bills with Cake, BRMC, Jonathan Richman, and many others.
THE GOOD:
Nothing.
THE AVERAGE:
“Way To Your Heart” – A cutesy pop-rock song that sounds both bubbly and ominous at the same time. In some ways it reminds me of the song “Cars” and that’s not a compliment.
“Nice Day” – Maybe I’m crazy but this song sounds like Smashmouth—without the sing-a-long chorus.
“City Of Love” – Cool, quirky, funky, and sparse.
“Paper Plane” – This is as close as Persephone’s Bees gets to good. The song is a rollicking track without the greatness.
“Climbing” – The sound is Persephone’s Bees vision of what the Beatles might sound like in the year 2006. The difference is the lack of great lyrics and harmonies. Quirky without any reason just sounds quirky.
THE BAD:
“On The Earth” – An intolerably, meaningless mess.
FRANKLY: The overall experience of Persephone’s Bees is a sparse one. There are occasions where you want to sing-along. It might be easy to compare Persephone’s Bees to other bands but they seem to borrow elements from a vast array of artists—that isn’t a bad thing but the original music isn’t anything that makes you want more.
+ Rae Gun
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