PS I Love You - Meet Me at the Muster Station
- by Rory McKeown Release Date:2011-04-25 Label: Republic of Music
For those nursing a post-Easter holiday hangover, may I recommend whacking on Canadian duo PS I Love You's Meet Me at the Muster Station to blast away any lingering cobwebs? The two-piece's debut album is a rip-roaring rollercoaster throughout, and rekindles any lost love for the dwindling garage rock genre.
It was clear PS I Love You, guitarist/vocalist Paul Saulnier and drummer Benjamin Nelson, had ideas above their (muster) station when they jumped onto my radar early last year with the debut promo for the fierce 'Facelove', which parodied Joy Division's iconic 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' video - right down to Saulnier's use of Ian Curtis' Vox Phantom guitar. Diehard fans of Curtis and co could call it sacrilege, but PS I Love You have the cojones to pull it off.
The album bursts into life with solid opener 'Meet Me at the Muster Station', a thumping lesson in the history of hard-rock. It pays homage to their tight-jeaned 70s ancestors, and evokes warm memories of David Bowie's classic 'The Jean Genie'.
Saulnier, whose distinctive high-pitched tones can grate at times, cranks up the distortion on the punk-rock tracks, such as the blistering freakouts of 'Breadends' and DFA 1979-esque pile driver 'Get Over', but layers effects for dazzling codas in the epic 'Scattered' and hook-heavy landscape of the grandiose '2012'. The pairing of Saulnier and Nelson works perfectly and the confidence oozes with every face-slapping riff and complex set piece between the pair, but it never sounds too forced or over-the-stop. It's surprising that the ferocious and calculated sound this pair of hard-rocking amigos creates is purely down to the talents of two musicians - it takes Glasvegas four.
Meet Me at the Muster Station is an exciting piece of guitar-driven rock. For all its raw complexities, their debut full-length is one of 2011's essential albums so far, and one that will be embraced for years to come.
