GET BENT!

Review: Digital Leather - Modern Problems

Modern Problems, indeed. Judging by the lyrical content of Shawn “Digital Leather” Foree’s first LP in three years, he is one miserable bastard. Back on Philly label FDH after a brief association with Fat Possum, Foree fills the record with self-loathing lines like “I feel so fucking depressed sometimes, don’t even have the energy to take my life,” “The world seems lost and forced these days,” “I am a man with no emotion,” and “The sky is grey, the sun is melting, I’m feeling like it might be the end.” Yowza!

If you’re expecting an unrelenting saddo downer that might have you reaching for a bottle of sleeping pills yourself, be advised that Digital Leather backs those sentiments with tinny, pulsing drum machine beats, wheezing vintage keyboards, and righteous power chords that transform these tracks into fist-pumping, shout-along anthems of cathartic defiance. Much like Foree’s early supporter Jay Reatard or Kurt Cobain, he takes self-pity and turns it into intense rock n’ roll that any confused and alienated young adult can identify with, and doesn’t forget that there’s fun to be had even on the darkest days.

Buried in the album’s back half, “Sweet Cheeks” is a total hit that would be played on the radio if everything hadn’t gotten so corporate and constricted in the mid-90s, riding a driving, head-nodding beat, while Foree delivers couplets like “Love is truly in the air but what do I care, rotting underground wishing I could make a sound” in his engaging faux-Cockney accent that resembles Damon Albarn of Blur. All of a sudden, everything slows to a stop, and Foree delivers the knockout blow: “Over it, you just can’t get over it, can you, sweet cheeks?” The guitars kick back in, and he keeps repeating the line with added viciousness each time, and you can’t help but hoist a drink, yell at the top of your lungs, and hope that it lasts forever.

The pre-orders for Modern Problems have already shipped, but you might be able to snag one from FDH’s site. A second pressing is on the way.

Digital Leather - Sweet Cheeks