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 Control
Pedro The Lion
Jade Tree
(*Warning – the subject matter on this record is intense and the discussion of it might be too intense for some people.)
Pedro The Lion front man, founder and principal member David Bazan has never
been one to pull punches. In interviews he readily takes to task the CCM
machine for what he believes is a model that cheapens the Gospel in favor
of a dollar. His lyrics have often pointed out the iniquities of the church
and the sickness and sin in man. Pedro The Lion records can be a lot to handle...and
that isn’t a bad thing. At best they make you think and really listen, and
at worst they can offend when misunderstood. Control is a record poised to
do both. From what I understand, Control began
as a concept record loosely based on the antiglobalization riots that Bazan
witnessed in his hometown of Seattle Washington in late 1999. In many ways
this concept still seems to exist throughout the record, but it has widened
to include several forms of infidelity. The songs tell bleak tales of corporate
cheating, marital infidelity, and lies between a government and it’s people,
along with all of their devastating effects. Bazan
tells this story with both the album art, (simple drawings of a man drinking
alone on a couch surrounded by bottles, a man at a laptop in a cubicle, to
a man sitting on the edge of a bed while a woman dresses in the background,
to what appears to be the same man being loaded into an ambulance,) to the
narrative progression in the songs. It begins with a couple walking on a
beach not really saying what they mean, ("Options") and ends when the wife
has stabbed the husband in his sleep over his cheating, ("Priests and Paramedics.")
In the middle of it all Bazan fleshes out the story with songs of a man having
sex with a woman other then his wife while the Gideon Bible lays in the drawer
next to them and guilt is closing in, ("Rapture.") Occasionally Corporate
America is charged with doing it’s best to make us all whores; "all the experts
say you ought to start them (children) young that way they’ll naturally love
the taste of corporate c*m," (“Indian Summer.”) Similarly, through the clever
double entendre of “Penetration” (a marketing term for reaching your audience,)
the singer laments; "if it isn't making dollars then it isn't making sense,
if you aren't moving units then you're not worth the expense- If you really
want to make it, you had best remember this, if it isn't penetration, then
it isn't worth a kiss." The songs provide a vivid picture that infidelity
or cheating on any level is harsh, ugly, and wrong. The story-record sadly
ends with the line "most everything turns to s**t... rejoice," (“Rejoice.”)
And it does when you cheat. That’s the point. This
isn’t a typical ‘Christian’ record that offers a problem and a solution in
a sitcom-styled package. It deals with ugly subject matter in (at times)
equally ugly language and imagery. But why pull punches? If anything the
record serves as a blatant opportunity to observe and embrace the truth.
We live in a sick world where screwing your neighbor, literally and figuratively,
is as common as changing socks. The results are always devastating. So maybe
you don’t cheat like this- (and hopefully you don’t,) and maybe you are asking
what you can get out of this listening experience? Though it’s certainly
not for everyone, it does serve as a reminder to be different. As believers
we are called to be the "light" in this sick world. On a more basic level,
listen because the record sounds fantastic. Better production, and better
playing make this record musically one of the best I have heard this year,
and probably the best Pedro The Lion record to date. It still sounds like
Pedro The Lion, but plugged in and at full volume with distorted vocals and
manic drumming. It’s an all around fresh take. In the end Control will challenge
you, maybe anger you or even convict you. Either way it’s worth your time
to listen. At least Bazan is telling the truth. -Jeffrey K.
posted on 05/21/02
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