#191
Pela - Anytown Graffiti (Great Society, 2007)
It really is a damn shame that this Brooklyn foursome packed it in in 2007, citing their various battles with record labels and injuries to band members as reasons for moving on. A shame because, honestly, these guys are one of those bands that deserved to be far bigger than they were. They did manage to gain a degree of cult status thanks to this record, but I think it was only a sliver of what could have come with the maturation that would have come with a second album. For a band that wears their influences clearly on their collective sleeves, Pela managed to craft a sound that rose above the clatter of those disparate sources and found a unique voice. Sure, one can hear the yelped vocals of Isaac Brock, the dramatic build of Interpol, the sleepy croon of Matt Berninger, and the anthemic guitar playing of Edge all over this album - but it all blends together so well that you're left with an album distinctly of its time and place. Stunning originality may not be a claim oft leveled against these guys, but when you find yourself knee-deep in the impassioned choruses of "Tenement Teeth" or "Song Writes Itself", playing a game of spot-the-influence will be the furthest thing from your mind. I wish we could have had the chance to watch these guys mature, because this was a thrilling indication of greater things to come.
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