Semi Precious Weapons - 'You Love You' (2010)

Formats:
CD

Tracklisting:
1. Semi Precious Weapons
2. Put A Diamond In It
3. Magnetic Baby
4. Statues Of Ourselves
5. Sticky With Champagne
6. I Could Die
7. Leave Your Pretty To Me
8. Rock N Roll Never Looked So Beautiful
9. Look At Me

Best Tracks:
None

Currently listening to: CD

I'd never heard of Semi Precious Weapons until I saw them open for Lady Gaga on her Monster Ball tour in 2010. I kept seeing people wearing t-shirts that screamed 'I CAN'T PAY MY RENT BUT I'M FUCKING GORGEOUS', and was intrigued by what it meant. Given the number of people I saw wearing them, I can only assume that many erroneously thought they were Lady Gaga shirts. Once Semi Precious Weapons started their set, I realised - as I'm sure many did - that the t-shirts everywhere were, indeed, not related to Lady Gaga.

Semi Precious Weapons were interesting to see. I remember commenting to my friend that I felt like I should hate them, but I didn't. As the singer jumped around in his fishnets and high heels, I felt like they could have some serious potential. With a bit more work, he could almost be a male Peaches. Almost. And, with choruses like the aforementioned 'I can't pay my rent, but I'm fucking gorgeous' and 'Sticky with champagne, it's OK, it's her birthday', I thought they may be onto something. If only they'd rough up their rough edges or get a bit dirtier and trashier.

As it was, they clearly weren't there yet. Though, when this album came out a few months after the Gaga show, I was - for some reason - compelled to buy it. It cost me $1 on eBay. I was interested to see how they'd translate on record.

It turns out, not so good.

At the show, I remembered songs like 'Semi Precious Weapons' and 'Sticky With Champagne' to have a certain trashy camp charm. Any charm they - or any of the other tracks on the album - had has been polished away by slick (over) production. I was hoping they'd channel The Teaches Of Peaches. Unfortunately, it channels Warrant's 'Cherry Pie' far more than it channels 'Fuck The Pain Away'. Thus, it comes across as an reality TV shower winner trying to sound like a bona-fide rock band. I got the impression that they were a small band, happily doing their thing. The album, however, sounds like a band (and/or a record label) trying hard for commercial success. Any redeeming features the band may have had live has been stripped away. Live, the band were very camp. It was what made them interesting. However, the most noticeable thing about this album is how un-camp it is. The whole album is a let down. The rock songs are very safe, and as the album winds to a close, there's a few cock rock ballads - by which point, You Love You is a sinking ship. And, there are no survivors.

I'm not sure if Semi Precious Weapons have put out any more records since this one, but I'm certainly in no rush to find out. This one certainly isn't for me.