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The Birthday Massacre
Looking Glass

Metropolis Records

Posted: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is about The Birthday Massacre that has managed to appeal to so wide an audience. It could be the group's unique exploration of '80s-style melodies combined with a massive production sound that mixes heavy guitars and mystical synthesizers. Or perhaps it could be their enticing lyrics that play on schoolyard authoritarianism and its reflections in adult society. Whatever it is, The Birthday Massacre is steadily rising to become one of the biggest stars in the goth/industrial underground. Their most recent album, Walking with Strangers showed the band progressing further into their musical formula but with a more mature mindset. Still drenched in a devastating wall of distorted guitars and twinkling sequences, the standout element was the improved vocal performance of Chibi, with harmonic accompaniment from bassist O.E. Now as a companion to the album, the band offers the Looking Glass EP, featuring several remixes and new tracks to sate their rabid fan base.

"Looking Glass" appropriately begins the EP with its thumping rhythms, raging guitars, and alienating lyrics that soar to lovely melodic heights in the chorus. The video for the song is included, exemplifying the band's schoolyard themes in something reminiscent of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2," as students don numbered masks that bear the visage of a broken porcelain doll; it's just as disturbing as what we've come to expect from the band, yet it is no less a joy to watch. The Crawling Pulse mix of "Falling Down" follows with a sparse arrangement of deep analog drones, broken beats, and a slightly-off-key piano refrain, while the NYC 77 mix of "Weekend" is more of a club stomper with its two-step rhythm and interweaving synth lines. Both are minimalist mixes that place far more emphasis on the strength of Chibi's voice, especially on the latter track where her voice is layered onto itself to create a hugely melodic atmosphere. The two mixes of "Red Stars" reduce the monstrous guitars of the original to nothing as ambient pads and poppy sequences shimmer beneath Chibi's ghostly voice. The difference is the rhythm as the Lukewarm Lover mix is easily more of a dance track - short and sweet, while the Space Lab mix languishes in a far slower and morose progression, with a barely audible piano hiding beneath a series of glitchy beats and choppy stabs of guitar. Acting as a transition between the two "Red Stars" remixes is the brief instrumental "Nowhere," a new recording of the ambient music once featured on the band's original web site during the Nothing and Nowhere days, offering fans this saddening piece of lush beauty to enjoy as they please. However, the two new tracks are the real treat of the Looking Glass EP. "Shiver" is a short yet catchy song that is really too good to be called a B-side, although it is far too short. While the band's live cover of "The Never Ending Story" has yet to see a studio recorded version, they give us another nugget of '80s history with their take on "I Think We're Alone Now." The song was originally a 1967 hit for Tommy James & the Shondells, covered by Tiffany two decades later, and now two decades later again, The Birthday Massacre cover the song in their own inimitable style that mirrors Tiffany's version, and yet matches their lyrical and melodic sensibilities perfectly. If you were ever embarrassed to like this song before, now you don't have to be.

The Looking Glass EP may not present a new direction for The Birthday Massacre, but the band perfectly plays on their formula so that it never becomes tired or passé. The crystalline production in tandem with their ever improving songwriting and musicianship keeps the songs fresh and consistently enjoyable, making sure listeners will be singing them to themselves and hitting the repeat button on their CD players or iPods. The remixes offer a more electro-driven interpretation of their music, but they never stray so far from those elements that made the original songs so gripping. It may not convert any new fans, but the Looking Glass EP is certainly a treat for the fans, one that will keep them at bay until their next album.