Pleasure Forever

Bodies Need Rest

(Conspiracy)

Record Review by Alexis Roberts

Pleasure Forever claims to be inactive, or on hiatus or whatever it is when a band breaks up but doesn’t want to admit it; that keeps everyone’s hopes up that there could possibly be some sort of new secret album in the works. In the case of Bodies Need Rest, there was an album to be released, but it isn’t new material, unfortunately. It’s just unreleased tracks and B-sides.  So when you check the tour dates on their website, don’t get too bummed that they haven’t been updated since 2003. Also this collection of their songs is being released through Conspiracy Records, not their former label, Sub Pop.  Just know that this new-ish album, that tops off at 8 tracks, is so amazing that it might be able to tide you over until they get their act together and realize how good they are. Word on the street is that they are all in other bands, living in different cities around California and doing their own thing, for the time being.

With a name like Pleasure Forever you better be damn good or everyone is going to hate you, but they pull the name off effortlessly. Plus calling your band Sound Orgasm just doesn’t have the same ring to it, they probably could have gotten away with that name, too (although Pleasure Forever is much more inviting). There isn’t an actual overt sexual tone to their music, but they’ve got the Los Angeles dirty indie thing going on (think Icarus Line, Darker My Love, Rolling Blackouts etc.).

Don’t let the fact that this album is unreleased songs and B-sides scare you off. I know there are a lot of shitty B-side CDs floating around right now; I wouldn’t recommend those to you, but you can impress your friends with Bodies Need Rest (I know I did). Just know that you have to do your part and take into consideration whether or not you will even like this band.  If you already know and like them than this is a must have.

Opener “King Cobra in the Guts of Valhalla” is loud and thrashing but has a bridge filled with indulgent drum fills and piano chords. It is perhaps one of the best tracks, but the closer “Honey Honey” is another song that you will want to hear. You guessed it, it’s an Abba cover but they turn it into an indie rock love ballad. It’s so good that you could listen to it all day. When Andrew Rothbard whines out the words “Honey honey let me feel it/ honey honey don’t conceal it/ The way that you kiss goodnight/ The way that you hold me tight/ I feel like I want to scream when you do your thing,” all of a sudden you remember that Abba was pretty cool.

All three of the guys are in their own bands and have sort of moved on from the Pleasure Forever era, so can we also just take a brief moment to acknowledge that Dave Clifford is now playing drums in the Red Sparowes  which is a band I have no problem publicly declaring my love for, and is probably one of the best bands in Los Angeles today (granted, they sound absolutely nothing like Pleasure Forever ). Anyway, here is the plan: if you see Dave, tell him that he needs to get the guys and get this thing back together ASAP! The clock is ticking, Dave, get on top of this! Reunion show time!  How can the pleasure last forever if you are on hiatus? It’s not fair!