The New Romance
Studio album by
Pretty Girls Make Graves
ReleasedSeptember 9, 2003
RecordedBear Creek Studio, April 2002
Genre
Length39:41
LabelMatador Records
ProducerPhil Ek
Pretty Girls Make Graves chronology
Good Health
(2002) 		The New Romance
(2003) 		Élan Vital
(2006)

The New Romance is the second studio album from Pretty Girls Make Graves, released on September 9, 2003 on the label Matador Records.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The A.V. Club(favorable)[2]
Drowned in Sound9/10[3]
Pitchfork(8.3/10)
Rolling Stone[4]
Stylus MagazineB–[5]
Tiny Mix Tapes[6]

Composition

Musically, The New Romance has been aligned with the post-punk revival,[2] as well as emo[1], indie rock, post-hardcore[7], math rock, and punk rock.[4]

Critical reception and legacy

In a 2010 Drowned in Sound article, Robert Cooke glowingly wrote of Romance's place in the post-punk & new wave revivals occurring at its time of release. He wrote that it predating the revivals' mid-2000s popularity, which groups like Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand would receive. However, he believed that "near perfection [had] already been achieved" through Romance before either of their debut works came out. Though noting their significance, Cooke dubbed Romance "so bold, so beautiful, [and] so much better than its acclaimed successors".[8]

On a 2016 Pitchfork list, Romance placed #40 out of the Pacific Northwest's 50 best indie rock albums.[7]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Something Bigger, Something Brighter"5:09
2."The Grandmother Wolf"2:58
3."Mr. Club"0:48
4."All Medicated Geniuses"3:24
5."Blue Lights"3:03
6."Chemical, Chemical"2:39
7."7."0:36
8."The Teeth Collector"4:07
9."Holy Names"3:57
10."The New Romance"4:10
11."This Is Our Emergency"3:43
12."A Certain Cemetery"5:07

Personnel

References

  1. ^ a b link
  2. ^ a b Murray, Noel (September 29, 2003). "The New Romance". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  3. ^ Adams, Sean (October 21, 2003). "Album Review: Pretty Girls Make Graves - The New Romance / Releases / Releases // Drowned in Sound". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Eliscu, Jenny (September 13, 2003). "Rolling Stone : Pretty Girls Make Graves : The New Romance : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  5. ^ Estefan, Kareem (September 9, 2003). "Pretty Girls Make Graves - The New Romance - Review - Stylus Magazine". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  6. ^ Wolfman (n.d.). "Pretty Girls Make Graves - The New Romance | Music Review | Tiny Mix Tapes". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Pitchfork staff (September 6, 2016). "The 50 Best Indie Rock Albums of the Pacific Northwest". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  8. ^ Cooke, Robert (September 3, 2010). "Favourite 50: Pretty Girls Make Graves The New Romance (chosen by Robert Cooke) / In Depth // Drowned in Sound". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
Categories