Release Date: (January 24, 2006)
Label: Jade Tree
Producer: Scott Solter

December  Hotel 
Overall Rating:  ++++
  
(Bad Diary Days)

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.

~ Joel Thomas

There's something immediately arresting about David Bazan's vocals, though nothing particularly dramatic is going on. His words are almost always delivered in a slow, off-hand lope. Bazan sounds somewhat congested, as if he barely has the strength to form the words and tap out a somnolent rhythm with one drumstick. Nevertheless, the songs are striking, intimate and natural-sounding. It's as if Bazan -- who by himself more or less makes up Pedro the Lion -- is someone you've known forever, and he's quietly telling you stories.

It's Hard to Find a Friend was originally released in 1998 by Made in Mexico Records, hailed that year by Spin as one of the "Best Records You Never Heard." Remixed, remastered and rereleased by Jade Tree, the record still shines, perhaps more than ever. On the second song, "The Longer I Lay Here," with its reverb peaks and troughs, taller and deeper than the waves in A Perfect Storm, Bazan smokily oozes: "I would like to be you/Just for a few habit-forming years." On "Big Trucks," a bouncier, almost stream-of-consciousness ramble, he sings of being admonished by his dad for trying to pass tractor trailers in his '87 Trans Am. Lighter songs are rare: The album practically drips with gloom and sadness, like those of Joseph Arthur and Nick Drake. But there's nothing about Bazan that gives you that suicidal vibe. He seems able to be sad without despairing.

Maybe it's the Jesus thing. That's something else surprising about Bazan: He's a Christian, though you'd never guess it, even after repeat listens. Unlike some artists of faith who feel compelled to load up their music with beliefs, Pedro the Lion's approach is decidedly -- thankfully -- lo-fi. In the end, he creates songs that don't alienate anyone, not even the damned.

~ Kurt Brighton

So I finally went out and bought this disc after practically months of deliberation as to whether or not this was an appropriate thing for me, a confirmed agnostic, to do. Y'see, Pedro the Lion are Christian and make no bones about it. They even sing about it sometimes, which, to be frank, gives me the creeps almost as much as old ladies talking detailing their sexual exploits on "Ricki Lake."

Surprisingly enough, I don't regret my purchase one bit. Yeah, there are a few songs that pretty straight- forwardly address lead singer David Bazan's faith issues, but he's not trying to convert anyone-- he's just trying to tell some good stories, and some of the stories he has to tell are about his faith. It may seem impossible, but he does this all in the least smarmy, unpleasant way imaginable. It also helps that the music is, well, for lack of a better word, bitchin'. Most of the album is given over to strummy, downtempo, kind of typical indie rock, with a few upbeat numbers thrown in for variety. So you want a comparison? Alright, s'kind of like a less- produced Luna with a better melodic sense and a less annoying vocalist. (Admit it, Dean Wareham's aged whine is more than just a little grating.)

When it comes right down to it, there are only maybe four songs on the album that expressly address religion, and of those four, two of them are bitterly critical of mainstream Christianity ("Secret of the Easy Yoke" even has a line that goes: "I still have never seen you and some days/ I don't love you at all"). That leaves eight songs to wrestle with topics of diverse as why girls should let their leg hair grow (in "When They Really Get to Know You They Will Run," Bazan sings, "I don't like girls the way they are, so shave their legs and make them look like movie stars") to general loneliness (as in "The Longest Winter," where he looks forward to spending the rest of his life living "in a studio apartment with a cat for a wife"). Okay, so those topics really aren't that diverse at all, but it's indie rock, fer chrissakes.

Probably the most endearing thing about Pedro the Lion is that they make you think. Bazan has a way of stating his case and leaving the answer to the question open- ended for his audience to ponder on their own. Causing thought processes to occur within its audience is not usually an earmark of pop music of any kind, so when it happens, I'm generally pleasantly surprised. So the guy's Christian. At least he's a smart Christian.

~ jeremy Schneyer