Pedro The Lion
Winners Never Quit
(Jade Tree)
Defining music by genre often entails the application of a prefix to the word "rock," like "indie-rock," "emo-rock," "stoner-rock," and so on. That sort of shorthand is an inevitable yet inherently dicey proposition, especially when you get into the realm of so-called "Christian rock," which brings to mind the likes of Stryper, yet could ultimately cover every act that's ever sung to, for, or about Jesus. It gets trickier the less explicit the reverence is: No review of, say, Soul-Junk (see also: "indie-rock") or Supertones (see also: "pop-ska") would be complete without mentioning Christianity—it's addressed explicitly in every song—but what about the acts who tend to leave it in the margins? Seattle's Pedro The Lion, which now consists solely of singer and multi-instrumentalist David Bazan, is frequently noted as a Christian act first and a musical act second, a generalization that does a disservice to Bazan's beautiful songs. References to God, morality, and self-denial are scattered throughout Pedro The Lion's gorgeous new eight-song mini-album, but Bazan is sharp enough to shroud them in morose ambiguity, shading them with minor keys and palpable melancholy. And, though "To Protect The Family Name" delves too far into dreariness, the rest of Winners Never Quit virtually sparkles with pop craftsmanship, from gently barren ballads ("Slow And Steady Wins The Race," "Bad Things To Such Good People") to more amped-up pop-rock songs like "A Mind Of Her Own" and the lovely "Simple Economics." In all, it's essential, regardless of whether you consider Bazan's Christianity a selling point or a red flag. —Stephen Thompson