Heart Shaped Hate

“Bitch, Plz”

2008, Cassette Deck Media Conglomerate


Rating: 10/10


Unbelievable. The greater Chicago land area is home to many acts that break the mold. Heart Shaped Hate, however, is something completely different. A two-piece synth/drums girl outfit, they have tirelessly been writing songs that challenge the listeners previous conceptions of pop music.

Their first EP, “Bitch, Plz,” is a smack in the face of everything you’ve heard.

This six-song album clocks in at just over 14 minutes of pure, unadulterated swagger and style.

Front woman Natali Wiseman yelps and shrieks over her pulsing synthesizers that range from minimalist blips to rollicking arpeggios. The vocals are brilliant, a nihilistic take on sweet 16 birthday parties to love ballads about zombies.

Yet the other crucial component of “Bitch, Plz” is the off-the-wall drumw ork. Jenna Horwath’s ability to go from funky drum beats to blast beats is unparalleled. Think Neil Pert from Rush without a Y Chromosome, on full speed.

There are grindcore-esque fills that could cause any headbanger to have a seizure, and dance lines that will compel even the most awkward to sway in time.

“Haircuts” rages with all the intensity of the Blood Brothers, “Grabass” will cause the dance floor
to turn into a rave filled with vampires, and “Magical Moustache Ride” leaves the listener stuck in an awe-inspired paralysis. There is no reason why this album should not make everybody’s Top 10 list at the end of the year.

For a local act, this album is monstrous, and if this album was put out by an act on a major label, we would all be praising it as the most creative album put out in the last five years. “Decapitated in Barbie’s Dreamhouse” is the song of the year, hands down.

These girls will be coming to a basement or stage near you, so it would be wise to pick up this album before it becomes the next biggest thing to come out of DeKalb since corn. .

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