To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie | The Patron

Above pic via andrewlee

Within the first second of putting on the debut full-length from Minneapolis’ To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie, I found myself ripping out my headphones and letting them fall to the ground. Seems like I had the iPod turned up a bit too loud and the first sound on To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie’s The Patron is an unsuspecting harsh shriek, like scratching a record with a razor blade and turning up the gain tremendously. Startled, I turned down the volume of my iPod and cautiously put the headphones back onto my head and hit play. After another brief shriek, dark drones and slashing sounds followed, topped off with the ethereal vocals of Jenha Wilhelm. After my initial shock, I thought, “I can get into this.”

Somewhat of a concept album, the ten tracks that make up The Patron “center around an underlying love story between two merging corporations that manage to capture the raw sentiment of isolation, profound discovery, and morbid betrayal.” It’s about the “corruption of an idea that is at first welcomed and later destroyed.”

Wilhelm’s voice is hauntingly similar to Cranes vocalist Alison Shaw. Not just that, but the songs on The Patron remind me of the Cranes debut, Wings Of Joy, in the way that the duo has successfully created a gripping, chilling, somber, yet gorgeous atmosphere. The other half of the band, Mark McGee, lends the album a great deal of texture with his electronic manipulations and IDM distortions (think Broadcast’s Haha Sound but a little more harsh). “You Guys Talk, We’ll Spill Our Guts” could be a kissing cousin to Cranes “Watersong,” Wilhelm’s voice tails off into the dark and swollen clouds, while faintly plucked strings resonate in the background, before diving off into digital loops and distortion.

The Patron is an unsettling, but beautiful listen perfect for this time of year. The album was released today on Kranky, pick up a copy from the label or download it via eMusic. Check out “Lovers & Liars” below.

[MP3]: To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie  ”Lovers & Liars”
The Patron; Kranky, 2007