Pedro The Lion - Control

Control was Pedro The Lion's most recent album when I started listening to them, so suffice it to say, it is the album that I think of when I think of the band. It showcases the same sound as seen on previous efforts, though slightly bigger and more polished, though not as much so as Achilles Heel. Overall, Control has a much darker feel to it than any other Pedro album, but is still indie rock at its best.

Tracklisting:
1. Options
2. Rapture
3. Penetration
4. Indian Summer
5. Progress
6. Magazine
7. Rehearsal
8. Second Best
9. Priests and Paramedics
10. Rejoice

Pedro The Lion - Achilles Heel

Pedro The Lion is a band that I have liked for several years now. I remember a few years ago when I first saw them play at The Southgate House in Newport, KY. I was sitting in the balcony, smoking cigarettes and watching David Bazan and Co. play. Occasionally, David would remove his guitar and sit on an amp, sipping on his beer and answering questions from those in the crowd that were brave enough to shout them out. Shortly thereafter, Pedro The Lion released Achilles Heel which is their most polished, and probably most cohesive album in an already impressive catalogue. Not only so, but this would also be their most controversial as it contained explicit lyrics and they were a quote-unquote christian band; though less so in their latter years. Unbeknownst at that point [to the band and fans alike], this would be the band's final album together; T.W. Walsh would go on to play with the band The Soft Drugs and Bazan would venture out on his own.

To say that Bazan has a way with words is the same as saying that any of the Jackson family has had "some work done"; this is evident in tracks like "Arizona" - a song about a love triangle between Arizona, California, and New Mexico. It isn't until the last track of the album that we see the best song [in my humble opinion] in the track "The Poison" that talks about love lost and good times gone by. The song ends with the line "my old man always swore that hell would have no flame, just a front-row seat to see your true love pack her things and walk away".

Achilles Heel is a fantastic album and more than worth the time it takes to download it.

Tracklisting:
1. Bands With Managers
2. Foregone Conclusions
3. The Fleecing
4. Discretion
5. Arizona
6. Keep Swinging
7. Transcontinental
8. I Do
9. Start Without Me
10. The Poison

Highlight Tracks: "Discretion", "Arizona", "Transcontinental", "Start Without Me", "The Poison"