Scarling
Sweet Heart Dealer (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
By Andrea Benvenuto
Published: March 30th, 2004 | 6:47pm
Your goth prom soundtrack has arrived.
Welcome to the goth prom, 21st century style. Scarling is the band, but you probably wish lead singer Jessicka was your date, dressed in ripped vintage black lace. Once voted most likely to tear apart "Love Song" by the Cure, the former Jack Off Jill singer has since graduated to a new class of hard rock.
After the initial release of a teaser EP, Sweet Heart Dealer is L.A.-based Scarling's full-length debut. Its seven songs only last 33 minutes, but they pack enough rum-spiked punch to make a dazzling impression. "The Last Day I Was Happy" opens things up with crunching guitars and scathing vocals. "Band Aid Covers the Bullet Hole," featuring the line "Say hello to my little friend," is one catchy massacre, while the lyrics and namesake of "Crispin Glover" simultaneously evoke Carrie ("They're laughing at you / They're not laughing with you") and Back to the Future. Of course, Glover has played roles creepier than nerdy George McFly, and that seems to better fit in with titular muses like "Alexander the Burn Victim" and "Baby Dracula."
There's no question Sweet Heart Dealer is a dark record, and "Black Horse Riding Star" proves it as Jessicka busts out her roaring scream. However, as the last track "Can't (Halloween Valentine)" beautifully exemplifies, her voice is as sweet and clear as ever. Although she and guitarist Christian Hejnal supposedly got off on the wrong foot, they seem to have found in each other excellent dance partners.
Issue #35
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