She Wants Revenge - Valleyheart

Arriving four years after This Is Forever showed just how closely She Wants Revenge could follow the post-punk and synth pop rule book, Valleyheart injects the band’s sound with some much-needed ambition and eclecticism. A concept album about the San Fernando Valley and the turbulent relationships of its denizens, this set of songs proves once and for all that while She Wants Revenge's influences may be from New York and England, they’re undeniably a product of Los Angeles. They’re as sleek and slick as ever on love/hate songs like “Little Star” and “Up in Flames,” which makes their city sound downright dangerous, with lyrics like “the canyon screams and the highways bleed at night.” “Not Just a Girl” and “Suck It Up” are typical dark and doomy She Wants Revenge songs, but more often than not, the band tries new things. “Take the World” puts gritty electronics and programmed beats at the fore, while many of the highlights are surprisingly light-hearted. “Must Be the One” echoes some of U2’s soaring sweetness, while “Kiss Me” couches SWR's swooning romanticism in deceptively sunny pop. “Holiday Song” might be Valleyheart's finest moment, a Bowie-esque ballad that captures the splendid isolation/self-pity of being alone on a day where everyone else is together. Ultimately, the album shows that She Wants Revenge is developing their own sound on their own terms.

She Wants Revenge - This Is Forever (European Edition)

Somehow, She Wants Revenge found a way to follow the post-post-punk rulebook even more closely on This Is Forever than they did on their self-titled debut.

Robotically doomy vocals with a faux-British accent? Check.

Eerie keyboard textures? Check.

Insistent basslines and alternately strummy and angular guitars? Check and check.

As on She Wants Revenge, Goth, gloom, and glamour are the order of the day, but even if Justin Warfield and Adam "Adam 12" Bravin have made their music into even more of a caricature on This Is Forever, they sound more confident. They're even willing to play with some irony: the album's cover mirrors the artwork of their debut, except now the girl is wearing all-black, all-purpose wedding/funeral undies, and "She Will Always Be a Broken Girl" sounds like a more bittersweet sequel to She Wants Revenge's "These Things." Warfield and Bravin give equal weight to all of their influences; Depeche Mode, Joy Division, and Interpol are equally worthy of emulating, and the glammy, shuffling beat of "True Romance" makes it feel like a love song dedicated to Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," while the lovelorn musings of "It's Just Begun" could've been ripped from Paul Banks' diary. The band's imitation of their idols gets close to crossing the line between flattery and parody, especially when it comes to She Wants Revenge's lyrics. They play like post-punk madlibs, as on "Checking Out’s” "She's like the devil to me/Though she claims she's found Jesus/Her religion is killing me/Lets her do whatever she pleases." And yet, its She Wants Revenge's ability to boil these sounds and sentiments down to their essence (and sometimes, lowest common denominator) that makes them distinctive. They're at their best when they have their tongues lodged firmly in their sculpted, angst-ridden cheeks, as on the snidely danceable "What I Want" and "Written in Blood," which "neg" their little girls lost with more putdown come-ons than The Pick Up Artist's Mystery. While a few songs put the "meh" back in melodramatic ("Walking Away," "This Is the End"), This Is Forever is full of catchy songs that improve on the band's first album.

She Wants Revenge - Save Your Soul EP

She Wants Revenge who formed in 2004, are based in the San Fernando Valley, California. The group's debut album She Wants Revenge was released in early 2006, with three singles to follow ("These Things", a video featuring Shirley Manson from Garbage, "Out of Control", and "Tear You Apart" for which the video was directed by Joaquin Phoenix). After touring extensively through 2006 with Depeche Mode and Placebo the band admitted that they would like to tour with their heroes The Cure and Bauhaus. Following the release of their second album This Is Forever in October 2007 the band were released from their contract with Geffen. The EP, Save Your Soul, was released via their own label, Perfect Kiss to iTunes on May 13, 2008.

She Wants Revenge - She Wants Revenge

Los Angeles Joy Division-obsessed duo She Wants Revenge blend electronic beats with Goth pop misery on their self-titled Geffen debut. DJs Justin Warfield and Adam "Adam 12" Bravin may have crafted the post-punk equivalent of XTC alter-egos Dukes of Stratosphear's psychedelic rock tribute Chips from the Chocolate Fireball, but there is suspicion as to whether or not it was intentional. Like fellow re-animators Interpol, the Bravery, or even the mysterious Lansing-Dreiden, She Wants Revenge love early Depeche Mode, Bauhaus, and pre-Land of Rape and Honey Ministry, but what makes their impeccably crafted, highly listenable/danceable collection of angst so dubious is its utter duplicity. There's nothing wrong with honouring your influences by copping a few moves and singing in a fake British accent like Green Day with the intentions of updating a genre that many potential listeners are too young to have experienced first-hand, but it's another thing to do it without even the slightest deviation.

I first heard of She Wants Revenge on iTunes as a free download. I didn’t think much of them until I saw their video for Tear You Apart. The lyrics transform a high school relationship into a dark and spiralling horror story. Complete with ambient noises, distorted bass synthesizers and catchy choruses Tear You Apart became one of the great singles of 2006. Not to mention one of the best videos, featuring the most evil school dance ever, strange men called “The Reds” and a directorial spot by Joaquin Phoenix. I mean, what’s not to like?

She Wants Revenge - These Things EP

She Wants Revenge's "These Things" EP (2005) serves as a gritty, post-punk introduction, blending moody electronics with dark, sexually charged lyrics and baritone vocals. Critics frequently compare their sound to Joy Division and Bauhaus, with tracks like the title song featuring a repetitive, club-driven, and slightly ironic, moody aesthetic. The EP features a mix of moody basslines, angular guitars, and electronic, dance-floor-friendly beats described as "darkly-lit," "ominous," and "sulky".

The EP was generally well-regarded for capturing a specific, moody atmosphere that resonated with fans of gothic rock and 80s-inspired dark wave.