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5+ to Beauties Never Die on Babysue.com!
- Beauties Never Die (CD, Afternoon, Pop)Some of you out there may be thinking that a sissy wish is what goes through an urban homosexual's mind when he's sitting in the stall of a public lavatory. But that would be incorrect...because Sissy Wish is actually an intriguing young Norwegian lady whose real name is Siri Walberg. Beauties Never Die is Walberg's third album. It's a collection of super melodic slick pop ditties that was produced by Jorgen Traen. In more ways than one, Siri's music recalls the music of 1980s electro-popsters Missing Persons. Her voice is very reminiscent of Dale Bozzio...except minus that peculiar hiccup-y sound. What impresses us most about this album is the fact that the tunes get better the more familiar they become. Instead of throwaway pop, Walberg writes and records smart songs thatalthough accessible and commercialhave strangely inviting qualities that make them hold up over time. Nice smooth hummable cuts include "Float," "Beauties Never Die" (a really beautiful tune), and "Music on the Radio." Nice stuff. (Rating: 5+)
Pitchfork album review 8/10!
Sissy Wish
Beauties Never Die[Afternoon Records; 2009]
Siri Ålberg's stage name is both apt and a little misleading: "Sissy Wish" is a rough translation of Per Pusling, a character in a novel by Astrid Lindgren, the Swedish author who created Pippi Longstocking. The pseudonym may initially evoke images of cardigan-clad musicians strumming playground-set songs, but Ålberg's music is anything but twee and naïve. Rather, the name Sissy Wish implies a combination of playfulness and wistfulness two qualities in good supply on Ålberg's third full-length. Originally released in Norway in 2007 and finally getting a U.S. release this spring, Beauties Never Die balances maturity and wonder as it takes a hard left turn away from the guitar-driven rock of the first two Sissy Wish albums. Instead, Ålberg and producer Jørgen Træn toy with computers, synths, and a few live instruments to animate these 10 inventive, diverse tracks. As such, the album shares some similarities with recent efforts by fellow Scandinavian dancing queens Annie and Sally Shapiro, but it sounds as though Ålberg has arrived at this new sound not through a well-stocked record collection or a thorough knowledge of pop history (although one expects she has both), but by giving full rein to all her personality quirks and musical curiosities.
Ålberg has plenty of both. Her voice is high and pinched like Karen O's or Cyndi Lauper's, and she writes wordy songs full of unexpected hooks and lengthy melodic phrases, mixing exuberant shout-outs ("Do a rockabilly dance, baby take my hand!") with quotable insights ("It takes a lifetime to find out if someone's happy to see you every day"). Ålberg even tapdances a solo on "Ya Ya Ya". Bolstering her charming eccentricities is an eclecticism that makes Beauties wide-ranging yet surprisingly cohesive, as if its emphasis on electronics has allowed her simultaneously to indulge and to give shape to her every whim. Each song has its own distinguishing sonic gesture: DIY girl-group drums add drama to that declaration-of-dedication title, "Milk" breaks for a steel drum solo, and "Do What They Say" revolves around the shouted dancefloor decree "Do what they say!" Doo-wop vocals and castanets lift the jumpy chorus of closer "Book", which may feature the album's most infectious hook. The wide range of styles evident on Beautiesspeaks less of someone trying to re-create the music of the past than re-imagining it in her own image.
Beauties, however, proves most powerful when it's most quiet. The acoustic "Music on the Radio" may get lost among the synth starbursts during the first few listens, but its halting, tender chorus is the album's best showcase for her vocals and the call-and-response between piano and guitar on the bridge is its most fragile moment. It's ostensibly about the intimate connection between performer and listener, but as hushed as the song sounds, Ålberg promises to dance: "I'd rather be dead than behave after what you'll be playing today," she sings teasingly. What comes through most on this and every song is a strong, multifaceted personality: Ålberg may have borrowed her stage name, but on Beauties she comes across as wholly her own person.
— Stephen M. Deusner, April 1, 2009
Pitchfork Forkcast: DWTS
Performing under the name Sissy Wish Bergen-based Siri Ålberg wears Chucks and leotards on stage, sports a fierce bob, performs tap dance solos, and sings like a banshee approximation of Betty Boop. Obviously, she's got the pop-star image thing down, but more importantly, she and her band craft indie pop songs with an exaggerated sense of motion and movement, drawing from a range of sources: Siouxise & the Banshees, Cyndi Lauper, Karen O, Devo. Ålberg plays them to the rafters, insistent and intense.
"Dwts", from last year's Norwegian Grammy-nominated Beauties Never Die, now being released as a single, stands for "Do what they say." "They" could be some sort of discotarian regime or simply her sharp backing band, or it could refer to a song's beats and rhythms that translate to human movement. But she might as well be singing in first person instead of third: ""The rhythm makes it groove / I wanna move and spend my time on what it's for," Ålberg sings, as guitars pulse and new wave synths swirl around her. She wants to dance, damnit, and she wants you dancing with her. Ålberg uses the bridge for what's it for: to marshal the band's force and launch a much stronger attack on the chorus: "The city is on fire!" she sings ominously, before launching into a string of Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!'s so exuberant they're almost martial. On its final push, "Dwts" makes dancefloor conformity sound like an act of defiance. Posted by Stephen M. Deusner on Mon: 03-17-08
