Pedro the Lion

Item: It's Hard to Find a Friend
Author: Joel Thomas

It's Hard to Find a Friend

(1998)

Reviewed by Joel Thomas

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Label Made in MexicoExit Zine 19991999

indie rock lo-fi singer-songwriter slowcore

Bazan spelled backwards is nazab. David Bazan is the genius behind Pedro the Lion, whose newest release, It's Hard to Find a Friend, is certainly worth your attention. Bazan's lyrics are thoughtful and pondering, with an honesty that makes the listener feel whatever emotions the lyrics portray. He uses symbolism without being enigmatic; in other words, one must think while listening, but one doesn't finish listening to many songs wondering what in the world they were about. The music itself on this album is fascinating, yet Pedro manages to pull off a great sound using only simple instruments like guitar, bass, and drums. The songs are very melody-driven, and while most of the time the vocals take precedence over the music, on tracks such as "Secret Of The Easy Yoke," Pedro just jams for awhile, too.

A few highlights of the disc for me: "The Longer I Lay Here," a song about apathy; "Big Trucks," which is basically a conversation between father and son about patience and meekness; and a melancholy song about heartbreak and a cheating lover, "Bad Diary Days."

Also cool are "When They Really Get To Know You They Will Run," a song about girls shaving their legs and trying to make themselves look attractive (contains the great lyric "winter legs give me a heart attack"); a retelling of the story of Hosea from a little different perspective, "Of Minor Prophets And Their Prostitute Wives"; and the brutally honest "Secret Of The Easy Yoke," which deals with how so many of the religious things we do in our lives are done out of a sense of duty, not out of love for our Lord. One of my favorite phrases on the whole album comes in the second verse: "But if all that's left is duty/I'm falling on my sword/at least, then, I would not serve/an unseen, distant Lord."

I really love every single song on this album; there's not a weak spot to be found. Musically, this album is fascinating, and I would recommend it to people who are into any style of music. There are some who primarily only listen to "hard music" who totally dig Pedro the Lion, yet those who are looking for something deeper lyrically and musically than what is found in the mainstream need not be afraid of this music hurting their ears. If you only buy one album in the next month (or even longer), hands down I would tell you this should be it.

5/5