San Francisco’s the Passive Aggressives (http://www.thepassiveaggressives.com) certainly fit within that city’s genre-defying musical history. This is a group that switches styles without fear, sometimes within the same track; only in San Francisco can you see a band this wildly eclectic and technically competent. To the narrow-minded corporate suits, the Passive Aggressives would come across as unfocused, but that is not the case at all. This is a group that pushes the envelope, slaying rock and roll conventions with the unbridled enthusiasm of Frank Zappa and Primus.
But what is perhaps most intriguing about the Passive Aggressives is that they deliver this oddball melange of hard rock, pop, funk, and prog with the sugar-sweet vocals of Keren Gaiser. It makes the Passive Aggressives’ most sonically twisted experiments accessible to listeners who normally probably wouldn’t be able to digest the quirkiness at play here. For example, the death-march percussion of “Not Perfect” might have been too dissonant for Joe Q. Public if not for Gaiser’s angelic singing. She provides both a hook and a balance, creating a bridge between the schizophrenic detours of her bandmates.
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Damian Lynch’s bass playing is another key ingredient to the Passive Aggressives’ overall sound. They throb like jackhammers on “All We’ve Got Is Now,” shaking the walls with animal abandon as bluesy riffs and perky synthesizers add fuel to its sweltering groove. The metallic clang and pounding drums of “Soundtrack to the Voices in My Head” charges forth like a runaway bull. “Violeta” opens more slowly then picks up steam as Lynch’s bass reaches its sweaty peak. Gaiser’s voice often recalls Amy Lee of Evanescence, especially on “Don’t Want to Be You,” but they were never this challenging and cutting edge.
The group also tosses in a twisted cover of the Turtles’ “Happy Together”; however, it’s their original material that stands out here. And original is an apt word; nobody sounds like these lads. Only in San Francisco, yes.
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